If you’re interested in hosting AI Education/Training Workshops, this newsletter is a must-read!

I spoke with Jennifer Hufnagel, who shared her story as an AI Consultant specializing in AI Training Workshops for the Vancouver area.

Jennifer’s Background

Jennifer brings 25+ years of professional experience with a focus on corporate training, instructional design, facilitation, business analysis, and system and process improvement. She has spent the last 2 years honing her skills in the AI space, and leading AI Training on Vancouver Island. Specializing in LLMs and ChatGPT. To date Jennifer has delivered training presentations to 1000+ users in person or online (to a worldwide audience). She is a sought after speaker on AI delivering sessions at VIEA, RIEP, COO Alliance, WeBC, AWE and a facilitator with the New School of Fundraising. 

Jennifer's journey began in a small fishing village of 400 people. With a business degree in entrepreneurship, she worked in software consulting and business analysis before transitioning into corporate training at 1-800-GOT-JUNK. There, she discovered her passion for teaching while helping franchisees learn new software systems.

Her career evolved through various learning and development roles, including building training programs for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics ⛷️ 🏆️ and working at tech companies like Hootsuite.

But then, ChatGPT came along...

While working on HR training materials and feeling creatively drained, Jennifer experimented with ChatGPT and was so impressed that she immediately recognized its impact and potential.

She joined AI communities to deepen her knowledge (such as SheLeadsAI). And, when asked to create an AI training workshop, she dove right in. As word spread about her training, demand grew organically through referrals, local networks, communities, and chambers of commerce.

Today, Jennifer has trained 1000+ people, focusing primarily on AI awareness and readiness. She specializes in helping small businesses understand and adopt AI tools, typically starting with ChatGPT basics and building/customizing from there.

Connect with Jennifer:

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-hufnagel

• https://www.facebook.com/hufnagelconsulting

AI Awareness vs Readiness

Jennifer estimates, based on her experience and observations:

~90% of folks are still in the Awareness stage! 🤯 

Many people still don’t use ChatGPT and aren’t aware of AI tools/capabilities. We are still in the initial phase where individuals/businesses first begin to play with AI.

It’s all about the basics - learning what is ChatGPT, how do you sign up, how do you talk to it, what’s a prompt, what are practical use cases, what’s voice mode, etc.

If you’ve been reading my newsletter, chances are you’re much further ahead in AI expertise than most people in your local community.

This is why I’m bullish on “AI Education Consulting” as a massive opportunity right now, with zero upfront costs, low risk, and great upside (e.g. transition to hands-on consulting or automation work, build a product, or fractional strategic AI roles).

There's demand for people who can explain ChatGPT to a room full of SMB owners. And, you don't need a PhD in AI - you just need to have spent time using ChatGPT and enjoy sharing your experience with others, watching their eyes light up too.

AI Readiness, on the other hand, marks a more advanced stage where Jennifer works with SMBs to meaningfully integrate AI into their systems. This involves data management, documentation of existing processes, and governance frameworks, in addition to upskilling staff.

But again, ~90% of individuals and SMB owners are still in the awareness stage, needing fundamental education before advancing to readiness.

Acquiring Clients

Getting your first client doesn't require a lot of marketing or upfront investment.

Jennifer recommends:

Start local and focus on building genuine relationships. Find your chamber of commerce, small business association, local Facebook groups, or local professional networks.

💡 Then, offer to give a talk about AI!

Make it practical - show people how to use ChatGPT to write better emails or job descriptions. Don't try to explain everything about LLMs. Just show them what ChatGPT can do for them today.

Note: if you have a digital marketing background, I also suggest running local Facebook ads (low CPC due to zero competition).

When just starting out, offering a free presentation helps demonstrate your expertise while building trust with potential clients. Jennifer emphasizes the key is to be authentic and solution-focused. Position yourself as someone who helps businesses solve practical problems using AI. Show them specific examples of how AI can make their work easier, like using ChatGPT to write emails, job posts, or content. Daily life examples can also be mindblowing, such as asking ChatGPT to curate a healthy grocery list or brainstorming recipes based on a photo of what’s in your fridge.

It’s not about being an “AI expert”.

It’s about showing people how AI can help them.

Soon, word-of-mouth referrals will become your primary source of clients. Deliver value, and your initial clients will naturally recommend you to others. This is very effective in smaller communities where word-of-mouth is a strong driver.

Speaking events, even unpaid ones, often lead to paid opportunities as well. Attendees often approach you for private training sessions or consulting work

Again, the key is to make all training sessions accessible and practical, focusing on immediate real-world usefulness rather than technical jargon/complexity.

What If You Have Zero Background in Training?

Even if you have zero background in training, you can succeed!

BUT... do your homework first.

Brush up on the fundamentals in my free “ChatGPT for Beginners” course (which you can also freely repurpose for your own training).

Start with smaller groups where you’re comfortable, then gradually take on larger ones.

Jennifer often starts her training workshops by asking preliminary questions to gauge the audience’s knowledge level (e.g. raise your hand if you’ve heard of ChatGPT, raise your hand if you've used ChatGPT).

Then, focus on showing people how AI can solve real problems they face daily. For example, Jennifer talked about helping a commercial fisherman write his first resume. Or, showing a small business owner how to create social media content.

Share your own learning journey and be open about what you do and don't know.

I really like how Jennifer supplements her learning journey by joining multiple AI communities and following a variety of AI educators/influencers.

General Tips

• If patience is not your strong suite, this may not be the right path for you.

• Use ChatGPT to learn the fundamentals of “instructional design”.

• Keep training at a BASIC awareness level for most audiences. You can still tailor the sample use cases, even though the training itself is basic.

• Build community both online and locally - join AI learning groups, follow AI newsletters, etc. while creating local connections.

• Of course, all this can be done completely remotely too; “local” is not a requirement. However, I personally see “local” as an easy and large untapped opportunity right now.

Need More Help? 👋 

1/ If you want to grow on social media and build a business in coaching, consulting, speaking, selling apps, or digital products… check out Blotato

2/ Free AI courses & playbooks here