Send us a text

In this episode of the Human First AI Marketing podcast, Mike Montague sits down with LinkedIn strategist and author Daniel Alfon to break down what actually works on LinkedIn in 2025, especially for B2B professionals, SMB owners, and marketing directors. They dive into why you don’t need 10,000 followers to win on LinkedIn, how to turn profile views into real business conversations, and how to create a standout profile that drives inbound trust and referrals. From leveraging LinkedIn without posting daily to using AI tools without losing your human voice, Daniel shares a playbook that’s practical, ethical, and refreshingly anti-hype.

Key topics include leveraging LinkedIn to build trust and long-term relationships, the risks of automation and shortcuts, AI-assisted content strategy (without compromising authenticity), and optimizing your profile as a conversion asset. Whether you're trying to grow a service-based business, improve your personal brand, or equip your team for smarter outreach, this conversation will reshape how you think about LinkedIn and how you use it to grow.

Top Takeaways

1. You Don’t Need to Post Daily to Win on LinkedIn
Success on LinkedIn doesn’t require daily posting; many professionals generate leads simply through an optimized profile and intentional networking.

2. Automated Tools Can Hurt More Than Help
Overusing automation tools can damage your credibility, get your account restricted, and undermine the trust you’ve built.

3. AI is Great for Brainstorming, Not for Replacing Your Voice
Use AI to generate ideas or draft copy, but always edit to reflect your authentic voice before publishing or messaging.

4. Your LinkedIn Profile is Your Most Valuable Asset
Treat your profile like a landing page: clarify who you help, what you offer, and the exact action you want visitors to take.

5. Start Conversations, Not Campaigns
Real business comes from real relationships. Focus on using LinkedIn to connect personally, not blast messages.

6. Stay Human in a World of Bots
Maintaining a human-first approach, checking in with real people, remembering birthdays, and sending emails builds deeper, lasting trust.

7. You Can Succeed with Just 200 Quality Connections
Having a small, engaged network that knows, likes, and trusts you can generate more business than thousands of superficial followers.

8. Referrals Trump Reach
Most high-value B2B deals come through referrals, not viral posts, so prioritize building trust with your immediate network.

9. Educational Content Converts
Teach your audience something valuable, and they’ll come back for more (and eventually ask how they can work with you).

10. Your Call to Action Should Be Low Commitment and Clear
Instead of pushing for a sale, guide people to a podcast, free resource, or email newsletter to keep the conversation going.

The Human-First AI Marketing Podcast is brought to you by Avenue9. We use artificial intelligence to amplify your unique voice, empower your marketing team, and enable your scaling business to achieve big-brand success.

Explore new avenues available with AI marketing at Avenue9.com.

We’re not just another AI company trying to build robots to replace you. We will help make you the hero. We’re marketers, too, and we get how important creativity, empathy, and human insight are when connecting with your ideal clients.

No matter where you’re starting from or how big your goals are, we turn modern marketing challenges into exciting opportunities. Let's get started with a discovery consultation!

Send us a text

In this episode of the Human First AI Marketing podcast, host Mike Monague sits down with Ashley Gross, founder of the AI Workforce Alliance, to unpack one of the most urgent transformations facing today’s marketing leaders: the shift from traditional labor models to outcome-based, AI-enabled work. Ashley shares how she reduced her workweek from 40 to 15 hours without sacrificing quality and why this isn’t just a personal productivity hack, but a framework for scaling teams, optimizing budgets, and retaining talent in a fast-changing business landscape.

From the rise of autonomous agents to the future of entry-level roles, this conversation explores how AI is reshaping everything from content creation and project management to strategy and culture. Whether you're a marketing director figuring out how to upskill your team or a small business owner deciding where to invest your time and resources, this episode delivers practical insights on human-AI collaboration, designing outcome-based compensation models, and preparing your workforce for the next evolution of work.

Top Takeaways
1. Optimize for outcomes, not hours.
Ashley advocates moving away from hourly compensation toward value-based models where employees are rewarded for results, not time spent.

2. AI enables a 15-hour workweek without sacrificing quality
By leveraging AI tools strategically, professionals can dramatically reduce time spent on repetitive tasks and focus on higher-impact work.

3. Every role is a sales role now, and emotional intelligence still matters
Whether in HR, product, or marketing, employees are “selling” ideas and experiences, and human connection remains essential in the age of AI.

4. Start by automating low-empathy, repetitive tasks
Use AI to eliminate busywork, like note-taking or task entry, so your team can concentrate on the work that truly requires human judgment.

5. The myth of job safety is outdated. Create your own role
Traditional job paths are disappearing, and Ashley encourages employees to proactively shape new AI-enhanced roles based on curiosity and initiative.

6. AI can fast-track your learning and creativity.
For early-career professionals, using AI to experiment, learn, and iterate quickly can leapfrog the traditional slow climb up the career ladder.

7. Don’t wait for the perfect tool, start with what’s already available
Many people are paralyzed by the hype; Ashley recommends embracing imperfect tools now to build comfort and skill before the next wave hits.

8. Too many AI tools are just wrappers master the foundational ones
Focus on deeply learning platforms like ChatGPT or Claude rather than chasing every shiny new app built on top of them.

The Human-First AI Marketing Podcast is brought to you by Avenue9. We use artificial intelligence to amplify your unique voice, empower your marketing team, and enable your scaling business to achieve big-brand success.

Explore new avenues available with AI marketing at Avenue9.com.

We’re not just another AI company trying to build robots to replace you. We will help make you the hero. We’re marketers, too, and we get how important creativity, empathy, and human insight are when connecting with your ideal clients.

No matter where you’re starting from or how big your goals are, we turn modern marketing challenges into exciting opportunities. Let's get started with a discovery consultation!

Send us a text

In this episode of The Human First AI Marketing Podcast, host Mike Montague sits down with Dan Sanchez, founder of the AI-Driven Marketer podcast, to unpack how marketers can go beyond gimmicks and truly integrate AI into their daily workflows. From building supercharged content systems to mastering chain prompting and custom GPTs, Dan shares how AI becomes a force multiplier when wielded by experienced professionals. Whether you're overwhelmed by content demands or trying to scale without ballooning headcount, this episode offers clear direction and grounded insights.

Dan also opens up about his own pain-fueled pivot into AI, how AI tools saved his creative momentum, and why thinking in systems is the next frontier for marketers. You’ll learn when automation makes sense, where human intuition still wins, and how SMBs can punch above their weight in 2025 by combining empathy with AI. If you want to turn AI from a toy into a strategic asset, this conversation is your playbook.

Top Takeaways
1.AI Supercharges Experienced Marketers
When paired with real expertise, AI tools act like a Swiss Army knife, amplifying your capacity, creativity, and strategic execution.

2. Most Marketers Aren’t Truly AI-Driven Yet
Despite the hype, the majority of marketers still aren't using AI meaningfully or consistently in their workflows.

3. Chain Prompting Unlocks Complex Output
Rather than one giant prompt, breaking tasks into a series of step-by-step prompts (chain prompting) leads to more accurate and effective results.

4. Custom GPTs Save Time & Preserve Brand Voice
Building custom GPTs enables marketers to embed brand knowledge once and reuse it for consistent, on-brand content creation at scale.

5. Think in Systems, Not Tasks
Moving from manual prompts to repeatable systems is the secret to scaling AI-driven marketing, especially for solopreneurs and lean teams.

6. AI Should Serve the User, Not Just the Marketer
The most ethical and effective uses of AI enhance the user experience, such as automating appointment booking or answering FAQs quickly and reliably.

6. Automation Should Support, Not Replace, Human Touch
AI should be deployed where it improves efficiency or consistency, but marketers still need to show up where human connection matters most.

The Human-First AI Marketing Podcast is brought to you by Avenue9. We use artificial intelligence to amplify your unique voice, empower your marketing team, and enable your scaling business to achieve big-brand success.

Explore new avenues available with AI marketing at Avenue9.com.

We’re not just another AI company trying to build robots to replace you. We will help make you the hero. We’re marketers, too, and we get how important creativity, empathy, and human insight are when connecting with your ideal clients.

No matter where you’re starting from or how big your goals are, we turn modern marketing challenges into exciting opportunities. Let's get started with a discovery consultation!

Send us a text

If you're leading a small to mid-sized business, AI is already part of your world, even if your company banned it. In this episode, Alec Crawford of AI. Risk joins Mike Montague to explore the real risks AI poses to SMBs: data privacy, prompt injection attacks, and brand reputation. But more importantly, they discuss the risk of doing nothing at all. From employee workarounds to unsecured AI tools, the conversation breaks down what’s already happening under the radar and how leaders can respond without overreacting.

This episode covers the practical middle ground between fear and blind adoption. You’ll hear about safe deployment options, where AI adds the most value, and why cybersecurity needs to be reimagined for generative tech. If you want to use AI without losing control of your data or your competitive edge, this one’s for you.

Key Takeaways

1. Privacy is the #1 risk for businesses using AI tools
Employees often input sensitive or confidential data into public tools like ChatGPT without realizing it could be stored, reused, or leaked.

2. Public AI tools may claim ownership of your input and output
Tools like Perplexity explicitly state in their terms that they can retain and repurpose user data, which can compromise IP and confidentiality.

3. The best defense is private deployment of AI models
For companies handling sensitive data, open-source models deployed on private cloud or on-prem systems offer control and security.

4. AI prompt attacks and "jailbreaks" are a rising threat
Prompt injection attacks can manipulate AI behavior or access training data, and most companies don’t yet have defenses for these threats.

5. Cybersecurity needs a new layer for generative AI
Traditional firewalls and endpoint protection don’t catch AI-specific attacks like prompt manipulation or LLM misuse; a new security layer is needed.

6. Zero trust and defense-in-depth are essential frameworks
Even inside your network, you need systems that validate identity and monitor behavior to prevent unauthorized AI access.

7. The biggest long-term risk is falling behind competitors
Companies that ignore AI may find themselves outpaced by those who integrate it strategically, missing out on massive productivity gains.

8. It’s safer to engage AI with rules than to ban it
If AI is blocked, employees will likely use it outside IT’s control; providing secure, sanctioned access is more effective than prohibition.

9. AI agents can offload low-value tasks and free up time
Daily agents that write follow-up emails or analyze portfolios already exist and can save leaders hours each day.

The Human-First AI Marketing Podcast is brought to you by Avenue9. We use artificial intelligence to amplify your unique voice, empower your marketing team, and enable your scaling business to achieve big-brand success.

Explore new avenues available with AI marketing at Avenue9.com.

We’re not just another AI company trying to build robots to replace you. We will help make you the hero. We’re marketers, too, and we get how important creativity, empathy, and human insight are when connecting with your ideal clients.

No matter where you’re starting from or how big your goals are, we turn modern marketing challenges into exciting opportunities. Let's get started with a discovery consultation!

Send us a text

In this special episode of the Human-First AI Marketing podcast, Mike Montague celebrates National AI Appreciation Day with the first-ever Avenue9 Human-First AI Marketing Awards – Class of 2025.

Mike shares his favorite AI marketing tools: the ones that help real humans do better, more impactful work. These tools save time, reduce the grunt work, and help marketers scale without losing authenticity. If you’ve ever wondered which AI tools are actually worth it, this episode delivers the ultimate shortlist with practical use cases, personal examples, and a few laughs.

Listen in for the nine AI tools that can help you:

• Write faster
• Sell smarter
• Show up consistently
• And still have a life outside of work

🏆 Tools & Awards Highlighted in This Episode:

• 🧠 ChatGPT – Most Likely to Write Your Autobiography
• 🎧 Zoom AI Companion – Most Likely to Remember Everything & Perfect Attendance
• 🎨 Gamma – Most Likely to Make You Look Smarter Than You Are
• 📓 Notebook LM – Most Organized & Best Banter
• 🎙️ Descript – Most Likely to Cut Your Rant into a Viral Instagram Reel
• 🪩 Cohost AI (Buzzsprout) – Most Likely to Listen to Your Podcast
• 🖥️ Elementor AI – Best Dressed Website
• ✍️ Grammarly – Most Likely to Correct You Mid-Sentence
• 📈 SalesConnector – Most Likely to Slide into Your LinkedIn DMs

📌Want to market like a big brand without burning bridges or blowing out your budget?

Avenue9 combines smart AI tools with smarter marketing strategy to help you build trust, scale faster, and win more clients.

The Human-First AI Marketing Podcast is brought to you by Avenue9. We use artificial intelligence to amplify your unique voice, empower your marketing team, and enable your scaling business to achieve big-brand success.

Explore new avenues available with AI marketing at Avenue9.com.

We’re not just another AI company trying to build robots to replace you. We will help make you the hero. We’re marketers, too, and we get how important creativity, empathy, and human insight are when connecting with your ideal clients.

No matter where you’re starting from or how big your goals are, we turn modern marketing challenges into exciting opportunities. Let's get started with a discovery consultation!

Send us a text

Mike Montague sits down with Dan Nestle of Inquisitive Communications to explore how the marketing game is changing and why curiosity is now your most valuable asset. From the rise of large language models to the deluge of dull, AI-generated content, they unpack why asking better questions, not writing better copy, is the skill that separates standout marketers from the rest. Whether you're leading a content team or building your brand as a business owner, this conversation reveals how to stay sharp and human in a world drowning in automation.

Key themes include the future of copywriting in an AI-assisted world, how to use LLMs without losing your voice, and why brands need real storytelling, not just content volume. You’ll learn practical ways to prompt more effectively, interview better, and co-create content that connects on a human level. If you’re ready to shift from “create more” to “connect deeper,” this episode is your next step forward.


🔑 Top Takeaways

1. Curiosity is a marketer’s superpower.
In the AI era, the best content creators aren’t just good writers; they’re great question-askers who dig for truth, context, and emotional nuance.

2. AI is your partner, not your replacement.
Tools like ChatGPT can support the creative process, but they still need strategic direction, emotional insight, and human judgment to produce meaningful work.

3. Storytelling still wins.
Great content requires structure, character, emotion, and purpose, none of which come standard from AI unless a human builds them in.

4. Prompting is the new copywriting.
Writing the right prompts (and follow-up questions) is a critical skill that requires clarity, empathy, and strategic thinking.

5. Interviewing is now a marketing skill.
Whether you’re interviewing a CEO, a customer, or your own AI assistant, the ability to ask smart, layered questions shapes the quality of your content.

6. The flood of “AI slop” is a threat to brand trust.
Companies flooding the market with generic AI content are losing attention and credibility; quality and relevance now matter more than ever.

7. Empathy creates a competitive advantage.
Understanding how people feel, what they want, and where they’re headed is what gives marketers the edge machines can’t replicate.

The Human-First AI Marketing Podcast is brought to you by Avenue9. We use artificial intelligence to amplify your unique voice, empower your marketing team, and enable your scaling business to achieve big-brand success.

Explore new avenues available with AI marketing at Avenue9.com.

We’re not just another AI company trying to build robots to replace you. We will help make you the hero. We’re marketers, too, and we get how important creativity, empathy, and human insight are when connecting with your ideal clients.

No matter where you’re starting from or how big your goals are, we turn modern marketing challenges into exciting opportunities. Let's get started with a discovery consultation!

Send us a text

Mike sits down with Sara Nay, CEO of Duct Tape Marketing, to explore how AI is reshaping marketing roles and why strategy, leadership, and emotional intelligence are more important than ever. Sara shares what small businesses often get wrong about AI and why letting go of your agency (or your content writer) doesn’t mean you should let go of your marketing direction. They unpack the changing role of fractional CMOs, what jobs are at risk, and how senior marketers can stay relevant in a world where execution is being automated.

If you’re a business owner or marketing leader wondering how to adapt, not just react to AI, this episode offers a clear path. You’ll learn how to lead smarter, not work harder; how to identify high-value marketing roles for the future; and why “strategy before tools” is more than a mantra, it’s your edge.

Key Takeaways :
1. AI is accelerating the need for marketing strategy and leadership.
Execution roles are being automated, but small businesses still need experienced leaders to guide marketing direction, messaging, and measurement.

2. Marketers must evolve from doers to managers of AI tools.
Those in tactical roles like content writing or SEO should shift toward overseeing tools and leading strategic implementation.

3. Fractional CMOs fill a crucial gap for SMBs.
Small businesses can’t always afford full-time marketing execs, but they still need high-level leadership to align brand, budget, and tools.

The Human-First AI Marketing Podcast is brought to you by Avenue9. We use artificial intelligence to amplify your unique voice, empower your marketing team, and enable your scaling business to achieve big-brand success.

Explore new avenues available with AI marketing at Avenue9.com.

We’re not just another AI company trying to build robots to replace you. We will help make you the hero. We’re marketers, too, and we get how important creativity, empathy, and human insight are when connecting with your ideal clients.

No matter where you’re starting from or how big your goals are, we turn modern marketing challenges into exciting opportunities. Let's get started with a discovery consultation!

Send us a text

In this episode of The Human-First AI Marketing Podcast, Mike Montague sits down with Dilip Dubey, founder of Sutra.AI, to explore how small and mid-sized businesses can finally unlock the real promise of AI, without needing massive budgets or technical teams. Dilip shares what he calls the “three big shifts” AI is making possible for SMBs: closed-loop marketing, precision timing, and access to global data insights. If you’re a business owner or marketing director who’s tired of hearing the AI hype and not seeing results, this one’s for you.

Together, Mike and Dilip unpack real-world examples, like how one regional retailer used AI to increase top-line revenue by 6% in six months. You’ll also hear why AI tools alone don’t create business outcomes; solutions do. Whether you're trying to modernize your marketing or empower your team without replacing them, this episode is your roadmap to using AI that actually works. Tune in and walk away with practical ideas to apply right away.

Key Takeaways

1. AI empowers business leaders, not just tech teams.
You no longer need an IT department to take action; AI gives SMB leaders direct control over business outcomes.

2. Closed-loop marketing is finally possible for SMBs
AI connects the dots across data sources in real time, helping businesses see what’s working and make smarter decisions faster.

3. Precision marketing is about timing, not just targeting
It’s not just who you reach, but when AI can help you show up at the right moment in the buyer’s decision journey.

4. Global insights are now available at your fingertips
AI tools allow SMBs to tap into worldwide market trends and competitor data that used to be out of reach.

5. Most SMBs confuse AI tools with actual solutions.
The real ROI comes from using AI as part of a complete system or strategy, not just adding it on top of what you already do.

6. Don’t try to win the AI talent war, train your team to use AI instead
Hiring AI engineers isn’t practical for most SMBs, but upskilling your current people to use AI effectively is.

7. Focus on use cases with clear ROI first
Avoid hobby projects. Start with small AI wins tied to revenue growth, cost savings, or customer experience improvements.

8.Your data is more valuable than ever, and easier to use
AI can now help you clean, structure, and activate your existing business data faster than ever before.

The Human-First AI Marketing Podcast is brought to you by Avenue9. We use artificial intelligence to amplify your unique voice, empower your marketing team, and enable your scaling business to achieve big-brand success.

Explore new avenues available with AI marketing at Avenue9.com.

We’re not just another AI company trying to build robots to replace you. We will help make you the hero. We’re marketers, too, and we get how important creativity, empathy, and human insight are when connecting with your ideal clients.

No matter where you’re starting from or how big your goals are, we turn modern marketing challenges into exciting opportunities. Let's get started with a discovery consultation!