154: Ivana Taylor – Building Prospect Lists with AI (Part 1)

Guest Bio:

Ivana Taylor has spent 35 years translating complex marketing into simple, executable strategies. She's the founder of DIYMarketers.com, where she helps entrepreneurs compete without enterprise budgets. She's a self-described AI power user who tests tools for six hours a day. And she's built follow-up systems for everyone from manufacturing companies to consultants.

Key Points:

AI has fundamentally changed prospecting and outreach—making it faster, cheaper, and more targeted—but only when combined with clear strategy and direct sales fundamentals.

The Old Way Is Broken

Cold outreach traditionally means endless spreadsheets, bad or outdated contact data, spray-and-pray marketing (webinars, lead magnets, mass email blasts), and huge time investment with little guarantee of ROI. Buying lists or relying solely on inbound marketing is increasingly ineffective.

What Still Works

Direct sales and direct outreach remain the most reliable growth strategy. Success starts with absolute clarity on your Ideal Prospect; industry, role/title, geography and specific expertise or problem area. Without this clarity, AI just produces faster garbage.

How AI Changes Prospect List Building

AI dramatically reduces the manual labor of prospect research. Instead of hours of Googling and data entry AI can find names, companies, websites, social profiles, and sometimes contact info and AI can organize data into usable spreadsheets. AI works best in small-to-medium batches (10–50 at a time).

Tools Mentioned for Prospecting & Enrichment

General AI platforms (for defining criteria and searching): ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini.

Spreadsheet & research automation: GenSpark (noted for strong spreadsheet creation)

Data enrichment & contact info (especially B2B): Apollo.io, Hunter.io, Clay.com

Outreach & CRM tools: Nimble.com (emails sent directly through Gmail for 1:1 feel)

Deal-finding for tools: AppSumo (one-time purchase tools)

What AI Can (and Can't) Do

AI can build targeted prospect lists faster. Find websites, LinkedIn profiles, phone numbers, and some emails. Segment prospects by expertise or role. Reduce human error in outreach sequences.

Ai can't guarantee perfect data (bounces still happen). Replace human judgment. Eliminate the need to review and understand each prospect.

Best Practices for AI-Powered Prospecting

Always review and "get your hands dirty" with the data. Read prospect websites and make personal notes. Expect some bad data—scrubbing is still required. B2B data is far easier to find than consumer data. Free versions of tools are sufficient to test and validate workflows.

Outreach Strategy Matters

Use AI to support structured outreach sequences, not spam. Follow a 3–5 touch email sequence. Personalization improves responses. Segment based on expertise, role, or interest. Automation reduces mistakes while preserving a personal tone.

Guest Links:

FREE GIFT

Business by Referral Course: https://diymarketers.trainercentralsite.com/course/business-by-referral Promo Code "WENDY25"

AI + Sales Tools from the Podcast

ChatGPT – Use it to write outreach emails, brainstorm follow-ups, or summarize client notes quickly and naturally.

Genspark – Great for researching topics and generating accurate, human-like marketing or sales content fast.

Perplexity – Ideal for researching prospects, finding their websites, social links, and key insights before reaching out.

Hunter.io – Find and verify professional email addresses so you always reach the right person.

Apollo.io – Combines verified contact data with built-in email outreach and engagement tracking in one platform.

Learn More

Visit DIYMarketers.com – Simple, actionable marketing strategies for small business owners who want to do marketing on less than $17 a day.

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