[00:00:00] Speaker A: Now with AI and all of these softwares coming out with their different types of AI within the software, I've taken time out, I've taken like an hour or two a week in whatever software I'm primarily using at the time to just test it out.
[00:00:14] Speaker B: Welcome to the AI Vantage, where modern leaders decode the future of tech. I'm Solomon Williams, founder of Solanaux. So here there's no noise, no hype every week. Sometimes it's just me and sometimes it's the brightest minds in tech breaking down what it really takes to grow smarter with AI and automation. Let's dive in.
Welcome to the show, everyone. I have a special guest with you today. I have with you is Emily Marino. She is wonderful digital marketer in terms of her consulting. She's already scaled up seven figures and with other businesses and now she's a consultant for B2B or B2C clients. So, Emily, welcome to the show. Tell us a little bit about our audience, about yourself and everything.
[00:00:59] Speaker A: Thank you so much for having me on here. Just a quick little info about me. I'm born and raised in Georgia. Clayco baby, for my Southside people, first gen immigrant parents. So y' all know when it comes, when you come in from the ground, it's a lot of work. And I pride myself of growing my previous company, Shape, four to seven figures in the first four years. With no background in business and primarily using digital marketing.
[00:01:24] Speaker B: So.
[00:01:24] Speaker A: So now as a consultant, I help other businesses grow and scale their companies through digital marketing. We're in a, in an era where it's so accessible to us. We just need to have the resources and the community in order to help us grow. And that's what I, my true passion is to help businesses grow through digital marketing.
[00:01:43] Speaker B: This is great. So how did it all like get started? Because I know on the digital side journey, were you always interested in marketing and utilizing technology? Like, tell us a little bit about how it got started and then the ways of where you brought to help grow to get to that, of course, that second figure where everybody wants to go on their business.
[00:02:02] Speaker A: So I started in 2018 and I knew that there's already a change in the market of everything going like the tech route where people were slowly getting out of going to stores and doing everything virtually. Then the pandemic hit and we didn't have a choice. We had to adapt. And that's when my company really blew up because we had everything in our hands to be able to scale efficiently online. And that is when the passion of Digital marketing came in because before, it was just like, I enjoy business. I know sales, I like the customer interaction. But once Covid hit and I had to figure out how to get sales through digital marketing, I said, okay, this is my niche. Like, this is how you really get into people's brains. So I tell people, digital marketing is solely using psychology. You have to use psychology in order to get in people's minds. And doing it through digital marketing is fascinating. From the colors that you use in your branding to the verbiage you have on your website, these little small things is what convert people to buy, to buy a service or a product from you. So that's really where the magic, like, turned on. Like, oh, my gosh, this is what I want to do.
[00:03:15] Speaker B: Yeah. So not to, like, get into the high level, because I'm sure this is what you pay, you know, book clients, pay per hour for you. But when you talk about psychology, like, when someone thinks of that as someone coming in, if I'm a startup and so forth, I'm looking for psychology. What are some things for me to think about? Like, what do you mean by psychology? How to get in, how to, you know, really delve into that. Because as you said, everything's social. You know, everyone's on their phone, on social media constantly. So how do we utilize that from your experience to input that, okay, so.
[00:03:48] Speaker A: Psychology is a lot of research. Like, it didn't just, you know, come to the top of my mind. I'm like, okay, this is how you do it. It's really. I went online and I looked on YouTube and Google, like, how can I use psychology to make people want my product? And so I'm going to give the example, what I first said about the brand colors. So when you think of red and yellow and you think of logos, you think of, like, McDonald's, Wendy's. The psychology of these colors is like, when you think of red and yellow, they come into, like, fast food, like, fast things. I want something fast.
So that's what I mean in a sense of psychology, these types of colors and the verbiage is what makes it convert into an actual sell. Another psychology thing that I use a lot that I recently did a little reel on. And it's been like, so many people messaging me about it is a lot of times when we're shopping and they're like, oh, add $20 to your cart for free shipping. And you're like, you know what? Let me add those $20 just so I don't pay $5 for shipping, but in reality, you're paying more than the free shipping. But it's the psychology behind it. It's the thought of us thinking, oh, I'm going to miss if I don't add this $20 to my cart. It's in that nature psychology. Not sure if that explained that well.
[00:04:58] Speaker B: Oh, it does. Like with FOMO and everything you're feeling of miss. Yes, I think Amazon's done that recently. Not to cut you off, but like where they'll say this sale is ending in an hour whether or not if it's really going to end an hour or not. That pulls you to be like, hey, I need to get this now. And so is that what you mean on that?
[00:05:17] Speaker A: Yes, yes, absolutely.
Even products, like one of the main points that I was able to leverage, monthly budgets and monthly goals that we had would be like at the end of the month, if we didn't hit the goal we wanted, the revenue goal would be like, hey, this product's about to sell out, we only have 10 pieces left. Shop now. And then it made them think like, oh my gosh, if I do not buy this now, I will not have it. I'm not going to be able to wear it like everyone else that they're posting online is wearing it.
And these little small, I don't want to say tricks, but these small little strategies is what really makes a difference when it comes to making a five figure month to a six figure month.
[00:05:57] Speaker B: And I think that's. And this kind of leads into my next question on it because I've seen how you've done with your, your LinkedIn on the activity. Everything is about now without social media, so many channels. It's about personal branding, right? And who you are, you know, whether you're attached to a company, whether you're a founder, whether you're someone in it and so forth. I was trying to build your digital presence or avatar art and so forth is what people interested. So with your LinkedIn and how you've grown and from a marketing perspective on a digital side for, you know, whether it's for startups or SMBs or larger enterprises, what are your thoughts on how to leverage LinkedIn? Let's just start with LinkedIn on how companies can like go forward with that, especially with how AI is coming to play with content generation and so forth. So tell me your thoughts on that.
[00:06:51] Speaker A: I say use LinkedIn to your full advantage. I've gotten so many job offers because of my LinkedIn. I've gotten opportunities that in person from people following me on LinkedIn and they see me at an event or they see me at a conference and they're like, hey, you know, I've been following you on LinkedIn and I see that you did X, Y and Z. I'd love to connect with your, you know, whatever the case is. I just being open, being open and being consistent, I think that's on all realms in any subject. Like being consistent is what's really going to help you grow and leverage any opportunity. My LinkedIn I try to post at least once a week so that I'm always on top of mind to any companies or any organizations that when they're scrolling through, I'm going to be up there and let that be from just having network opportunities or actual contracts with people. Right.
[00:07:41] Speaker B: And I think that the key part of what you said is just staying consistent, doing some type of scheduling something, even if it's once a week, that you're staying consistent, that it's part of that algorithm to stay organic. Because I've never, and you can correct me if I'm wrong on it, but if you're, if the algorithm sees that you're kind of in and out, in and out, that it kind of drops it, is that, is that correct? So with that and so forth else, you know, with how I think of it as is these next five years and what I've seen on the business side of Solanox is that we are in a AI renaissance right now in these five years. What we've been able to achieve in the last two years now is beforehand it was academics, but now it's actually business outcomes. Right with AI and now the larger enterprises have millions of dollars to spend for it. But for small to medium sized businesses, how do we implement this in and how do we do it correctly? So my first question is, is what are you seeing on the trend side for digital marketing with the blend AI and then with TikTok on social media, that's this how do you feel like how is that going to work with businesses on the B2B and for the B2C side, does that make sense?
[00:08:49] Speaker A: AI, it's making our job so much easier. And I know a lot of people are scared like oh AI is going to take my job away. But in all honestly like if you're on your toes, you have more work than not having work. Using AI for specifically E commerce, every sort of platform that you use in E commerce that be email marketing like Klaviyo, the software that you use for any apps on your website, they are all incorporating AI and little. They're taking all of our data and all of our feedback and just improving it. That's going to make our job easier. So instead of you need to make a report on how many products sold in this time span, you have an application within your website that will tell you hey, this is how much sold in that time and this is how many times someone logged off of your page together without you having to do the math, without you having to figure anything out. It's it for you. And you can optimize that to say hey, I saw that this product scaled this much times X and this one did it. I'm going to invest more time into this. That's just an example. It really just is testing it. There is no like okay, this is the right way. It's testing. It's test and trial, taking time out, doing the research and going in and figuring out what works and what doesn't work. Because everyone is so figuring out AI like we're all trying to see what works, what's more efficient. And when it comes to E commerce or marketing, I'm talking about every single platform has AI integrated into their, in their software, but they all have their own logistics is just taking the time out to go in, read about it and testing it, see what works and what works.
[00:10:23] Speaker B: So what do you advise on the for non technical entrepreneurs and so forth, how do they prioritize and kicking off that AI adoption for their business.
[00:10:33] Speaker A: So me personally, I honestly wouldn't say I'm such a tech person and I do digital marketing. A lot of stuff I outsource because of time consuming. However when now with AI and all of these softwares coming out with their different types of AI within the software, I've taken time out, I've taken like an hour or two a week in whatever software I'm primarily using at the time to just test it out like to just see, hey, like let me just play around with this and see how this works. Because it's. Because everything is so new and it's current, it's so hard to find someone that can teach you how to do it because it's ever evolving, it's never like the same thing. And what best teacher than yourself is just try it out, test it out.
[00:11:16] Speaker B: And I think that's what you said, that there's always something new coming out for the AI geese, that it's impossible to kind of keep up with the trend and what works, what's, what's hype, what's not hype and so forth. We had another guest on here. They work with specifically on AI sales analyzer where they do role plays for sales teams where they'll utilize sales, they'll grab the data, as you said, they'll test it A B testing and then kind of figure out and then teach their employees on the sales side to do role plays for it based on it. And that's continuously evolving. So that's just one example. But there's so many. So with that, you know, with you staying on the trend, like what do you look for to find to be like, oh, this is a good piece to like making sure that you're optimizing your time effectively as a marketing consultant.
[00:12:03] Speaker A: As a professional on honestly how long it takes me to do it, if I can get in and I whatever it is that it's working out for me, if I see that it's little time and for me to get my final results, that's where I'm like, okay, this is what I'm going to work with. Because it gave me the results I wanted and it didn't take me hours to figure out. For example, the what I've been using the most is Canva. So I've been doing a lot of graphics and email templates and stuff like that. And Canva has so much different AI built into it that it's like you can create a graphic within 20, 30 minutes when normally you're going to be sitting there for hours to create a graphic. And there's what I did when I was trying to figure out different types of AI programs. A really good source for marketers, HubSpot. A HubSpot has like a newsletter where they come out with all these different types of programs that are being used in AI and all that and they break down like, okay, this is what this can provide, this is what does the cost. Breaks it all down. And in that newsletter that I read, Canva was one of the number ones when it came to doing graphics creatives. So using research from, you know, a reputable software and then also just my own experience of using different from different.
[00:13:18] Speaker B: Programs and so forth on with that. Because I want to jump back to first off on you, like how you saying you're outsourcing for the times and so forth else to make sure that you optimize. Because as a founder, as an entrepreneur, it's all about time efficiency. How do we utilize the time? We can't get to everything in time. So what are like the three most important? So when you're looking for, for someone that's Utilizing for their business if they need to outsource and so forth. What are some key things you look for to find the right talent to bring them involved?
[00:13:48] Speaker A: I think it also depends on the skill level, the level of difficulty it is that this product or service you're trying to do. So things that are more basic, you know, there's VAs and all that. Right. But upwork is my best friend because it has like everyone that you can think of with all types of price ranges and you can see the credibility with their reviews and reports and all that good stuff. And really I have people that I've worked with for like the past five years for different segments that I'm like, okay, you know, I know that this person can do the job. So let's go back. You know, it's. It's an ongoing sort of relationship. And for someone starting off and let's say they going on upwork and trying to find someone. I put my filter as like the highest rating with reviews and stuff. And I just go off of that where I can see reviews that are real reviews. Because a lot of people, they. They fake their reviews. You can tell when they're like, the grammar's off and the name is weird. But real reviews that have a few, I would say like a minimum of 10, that's like the least. Some of them have like, you know, thousands of thousands of reviews. But a lot of the ones that have thousands of reviews are the ones that are a lot more. And I guess, I mean, if you have the budget to pay for that, then go ahead. But there's a lot people on there that are just looking for work and they have the credibility and have background and knowledge to do it at a more affordable rate. So just looking at the ratings in their actual portfolio, like they'll post their. The work that they've done and just seeing that they're credible as far as like, you know, when there's like a scammy page.
[00:15:20] Speaker B: Right, right, exactly. So just trying to find out strategically and what looks good, seeing use cases and so what this worked with. So that's good to know because especially for people that coming on upwork Fiverr is one as well. So, you know, going back, I know you had just want to kind of really try to get out as much as if you being from a consultant side and getting these pearls of wisdom from you. I know you've had the conference that you just went to was the traffic sales and the profit live. It's just great. You put so much content and so we're on your LinkedIn showcasing the page. Tell us a little bit about, like, what you've learned because I know on a previous conversation you've talked about, you know, so many highlights of it to the audience. What did you learn? Like, what was it about it?
[00:16:02] Speaker A: First off, if you're not plugged in with tsp, which is traffic, sales and profit, please do so. They are a community of black entrepreneurs that are helping black and brown people grow and leverage in their industry. That's enough. Enough said. The energy when you went in there was absolutely amazing and everyone you met had a background story and so willing to help. Like, it was amazing. Anyway, so back to where I learned it reaffirmed to me what I did in my e commerce business to scale it to seven figures. It just reconfirmed it. For me, the biggest point that I got was community.
We have to build a community. Even if it's a business or professional, personal, a community is what's going to build and leverage your company. So for example, a lot of the speakers that were talking, they have been able to build this community online where wherever they go or whatever they do, they're going to get the support and leveraging that community to whatever you end up doing. So, for example, me creating the content that I did at, I've been posting a lot of it on TikTok. I posted some on LinkedIn.
Those are reminders of the community making people feel like I am a part of something.
And I want us to continue seeing the growth or the journey now in 2025. And I think possibly because of the pandemic and everything going on, like, people just want to feel relative. People don't want to buy from a corporation. They want to feel some sort of human touch. So having that community, even, it's a little difficult because, you know, you still want to stay professional, but you need to have the human touch at the same time. So I guess know your limit, right? Know your limits when it's building the community, but still being open to people. Like in my LinkedIn, I was very open about me speaking about this is a black entrepreneur helping black and brown people. Now people want to see that realness and that's what's really going to convert you into any product or service for most industries.
[00:18:09] Speaker B: I feel, I think now, as you mentioned, it's all about authenticity, right? As. As they continue to go on making sure people want to see the realness of it, you know, sometimes of making a mistake like you're being human on the side. So I think as what you said. So what do you see to kind of help through like some bottlenecks, some small, like in terms of community, what you've already gathered from tsp, what are some bottlenecks for entrepreneurs that you see that could be alleviated through with finding the right community or just from your.
[00:18:43] Speaker A: Experience previously, literally we may think that we have the biggest problem in the world and no one has this problem. But when you have a community, you'd be surprised how many other people are going through the same thing that you're going through. So that's what community can help you with. When you are a startup or an entrepreneur that's starting off or even me, five years in the game and obviously five years is nothing compared to a lot of long time companies and entrepreneurs you have that need to be like, hey, this is what's going on. I need help with X, Y and Z. What do you see? What have you experienced? They may not have experienced it, but they may have someone else that experienced it. Or they may have a solution or a fresh set of eyes that can look at something, a different perspective. So that's what's really important to having a community because you can do that. Like had I known about the TSP two years ago before I closed my E Commerce, things is so much more differently, so much different because I tell everyone when you hit seven figures, you get seven figure problems. And when you don't come with the background of business or being the first in your family to do something like that, you don't have anyone to ask. You don't have like hey or you have, you're surrounded by other people that are more closed minded and don't understand.
So having that community can help you guide in so many ways and it could just be actual facts, advice or just support.
[00:20:12] Speaker B: And I think that it's as you said that when you get to that you're having good problems to have like on the seven figure side now you're figuring out okay, how do I be more efficient with the current clients or with your consumers, how do I continue to elevate, scale it up. But also at the same time as when we talked about with outsourcing, finding the right outsourcing to help you continue to not get overburdened with that. So with the community, as you mentioned, it's about finding the right people that are in line. As you mentioned in Atlanta, because we're in Atlanta, it's very the black and brown, having that community kind of help and scale and helping each other out. So I think it's more on having that community. You get to realize that, you know, you can go so much further with that human connection. Even in networking, as you know, you know, you always hear the saying, it's who you know, that's not what you know. Even with on the side of working, it doesn't even matter if you're working with an entrepreneur that just started versus a CEO of a Fortune 500 company. At the end of the day, it's about relationships. So with that being said and being able to provide services, finding the right team, when people go out and they're trying to network and so forth, you know, you hear the typical, oh, just be outgoing. Just go out and you can find the right person and just be proactive. But sometimes people are like, well, how do I get to that? What does that mean? So in your experience in finding that, how do you go about finding the right people, even for someone that might not be as outspoken? And so for how should you go about in finding those leads or finding those connections, whether it's from the community or from the LinkedIn side? I have a feeling on what side, but I really want to hear your thoughts.
[00:21:53] Speaker A: Okay, so what I do, and this is very strategic. Shameless Plug. I just made a TikTok about this. If I'm going to go to a networking event or a business conference event, I will look up who's speaking, who's sponsoring any companies, xyz and I'll see what if I know them, If I don't know them, I'll search them up, get all the juice, get all the thoughts from them, see how can I leverage this? What opportunities can I get from this? When you put these companies, you put these figures in, you can see who's connected to them, right? So I will literally name drop. Like I'll meet this person, let's say if I with a speaker or someone that's hosting it and I get a chance to talk to them or to their team, I'm like, hey, you know, I actually just research on you guys and this person is connected with you guys. How do you guys know each other? You know, like just starting a conversation and they're like, wow, like this person actually did their job. Let me look into them. And that conversation can lead into so many different possibilities, but it's strategic. You know what you're getting into even beforehand and you know that it's going to be worth your while. Now you're shy. I've never been really shy, so I don't know from that aspect. But I do know that if you're an entrepreneur or you're a startup, when you're eager, you're gonna do what you gotta do.
[00:23:10] Speaker B: You know, it's exactly as you've mentioned before. That's actually a really good tip. Like to have it to where you've done the due diligence and just name dropping someone's like, how you know John? Okay, like how do I go on? Like with this. And so now I want to know who is this Emily? How does he know John? Like let's, let's really speak because you've done your due diligence, you've done your own work.
So on a strategy side and so last question, question on this before we wrap up is, you know, with entrepreneurs it's all about you get to thinking. When you get started, you start forward thinking on I need to do this, I need to do that. You know, what happens to the client if they, if I do get someone, how do I get my unique, what they call it, your unique uvp, your unique valuable proposal, your proposition to have. So for someone coming in for starting businesses, whether it's on the digital side, AI, where do you think on some outcomes, how do they help be more strategic and to being to do like I provide consumers or with B2B clients with this outcome, what are from, from your experience, what have you felt has been really good to hook people to help with that?
[00:24:18] Speaker A: Honestly, the same thing of the connections when you name drop or a find a way to name drop someone that you've worked with that you know that could work for them. People just want to know that you are an expert in what you're saying. You are showing the proof that you are an expert in doing what you're doing. And I feel like that goes for anything. Like even when in a digital marketing aspect, I really don't have to get leads like they come to me but because I publicize myself and publicize my work so much that they're like, oh, she's been able to achieve X, Y, Z. Because I have the actual background, like my screenshots or what, what I post, you can see these are actual real numbers are videos of the warehouse. You know, things like that. They just want the credibility.
So if you're in person with someone and you're, if you're actually saying like your value proposition, I guess you can tie in the name dropping and saying, hey, like I was able to do this and this and that for this person, then they can be like, oh, okay, like I See, you have some sort of connection, but because we're in 2025 and it's like, so especially in Atlanta, like you need to verify people times X, right? Because people saying stuff and then, you know, so it is, it is a lot harder when it's like a in person type of thing. But I feel like a lot of contracts are not made like right there in the spot. They're always going to be like wanting to do their research, making sure that you have all your platforms squared away and you have those customer testimonials. Like it needs to be somewhere where as soon as they click onto your website or your social links, there's some sort of credibility. Because, and Honestly, even on LinkedIn, when you have the certifications and endorsements and all that, like those are great. Yes. Like those do a lot. But on your page, where when something goes on and they can see an outstanding customer testimonial, that's, that's all it takes. A video of someone of a company saying, hey, like this is what they were able to do in this time span. I would recommend to everyone with one video like that you can convert so many people from just one thing.
[00:26:24] Speaker B: And then so it seems like the overall case of it, of this, of what you're. I mean there's so many things, right? But, but from the main thing that we're seeing just on business or from consumer, or just from someone's trying to become a consultant side, it's showcasing that digital journey of that personal branding as we've said we've gone through. This is perfect. So, you know, one last question. I always ask people that, come on, if you had a magic wand and so to help with your business, what would you do to alleviate anything? What kind of AI, what type of automation would you use?
[00:27:00] Speaker A: I feel like they'll probably get to this point in a few years. But what I've been. What's been time consuming the most is the actual creating the content.
And that can be from emails, that can be from graphics, videos, whatever. There's AI that can go in and give you the ideas, the templates, design a few things handy, but we still need to go in and do a lot of changes. So it's still a bit time consuming, some sort of AI where they can go in and you can say, this is what I want. And this is like from them seeing the background of the dem. See, when the software sees like the background of how you like your formatting or your branding, they can just use that and formulate whatever you need without you having to do much that would be like the best for me.
[00:27:52] Speaker B: Like so like your first, your own personal growth partner in a sense on the consulting side, you just give them the data, you give them the understanding, give them what your clients is and then they provide the graphics, the suggestions and then option A, E, C, B. I love that. But yeah, that's great. I think that would be so helpful in terms of that. So, you know, lastly, is this where people, you know, you already have her LinkedIn, but where can people follow you? You know, I'm sure people want to find your journey, see you as that template to kind of learn from Emily on your journey.
[00:28:25] Speaker A: So of course I'm like the branding queen when it comes to branding and self development. All of my platform is Emily Black. So Emily Dots Black, B, L, A, C. See that's on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok. My LinkedIn does have my legal name. My full legal name is Emily Marino, which that is on my LinkedIn. But all other social medias is going to be Emily Black.
[00:28:49] Speaker B: All right, well, thank you again, Emily for coming onto the show. You've been great and for our audience. Thanks for tuning in to the AI Fantage tool. We'll see you next time. Thanks, guys.
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