My sister told me my business idea could be replicated by AI… here’s how she’s wrong
When I first told my sister Michele about my idea for et voilà, I asked her a simple question - “Do you think it’s a good idea?” And in true logical older sister fashion, she said no. When I write that, I’m laughing to myself, because she was not coming from a bad place - just a logical, honest one.
To be fair, Michele worked at Amazon for a decade, most recently as a product manager for Amazon Alexa, focused almost exclusively on developing their AI technology. When I pitched my idea to her, she had several valid questions for me, and with everything that I told her (or should I say, tried to convince her), she had a response for how Alexa could or would soon be able to do it. It was both deflating and motivating, because my immediate response was, “no, I am going to prove that I can deliver something that AI and influencers never can!” It was a true look into my competitive landscape and what I was up against, and it provoked me to think long and hard about how what et voilà offers is different than what you could find yourself using any sort of AI, technology, or influencer freebie.
So here I am, dispelling some common beliefs or misconceptions you might have about what I offer.
For starters, what makes me different than you searching for a gift yourself with ChatGPT?
Well, for the purposes of demonstration, let me use a real request I got from a friend. She needed to buy her child’s daycare teachers a Christmas gift that arrived in time for the holiday within a $50 budget. She did not have any information about the teachers’ individual likes or dislikes, but she did not want to get them a generic mug.
Using ChatGPT, I typed in this prompt and got the following response:
Now, on the surface, there is nothing wrong with what ChatGPT came back with. A lot of times, teachers would tell you that they would appreciate any gesture, including a gift card. But I know from my own and clients’ experiences, like all gift recipients, that they deeply appreciate the thought and intention behind what the gift is, as well, and it is worth it to go above and beyond for them.
In that line of thought, my friend’s expressed reason for the gifts, like many I receive, was that she wanted something less generic that really showed her appreciation. After all, teachers - especially daycare teachers! - do the absolute most to take care of our children.
A tote bag is useful, but this one is plain and doesn’t have any particular personality.
Most daycare teachers don’t have a formal desk to store paperwork.
Some people are sensitive to fragrance, and candles can go unburned unless you know someone’s favorite scents.
A preassembled gift basket can be seen as more generic (though this was my favorite of the 5)
A tumbler is not different enough to me than a mug when my client specifically mentioned she wanted to stay away from them.
Even with additional prompting, at some point, the tool is going to run into creative and technical limitations, especially in an instance where I do not have much more information about her gift recipients.
So, instead of prompting ChatGPT, what did I do to optimize my friend’s gifting experience? I leveraged my experience listening to people and understanding human behavior to think about how I wanted to frame the gift. What are some common themes that most people enjoy, where I do not need to know specific preferences in order to have a good chance of pleasing my audience? Some ideas that came to mind were eating (not necessarily cooking), travel, reading (I thought it was a safe bet for teachers), and relaxing.
From there, rather than sourcing items from a big retailer like Amazon or Walmart, I took to Etsy and leveraged my SEO expertise to search and hone in on individual items that fit into these categories. Yes, I could have likely guaranteed my client fast shipping with those options - but what about the rest of what was important? This is where the human aspect really comes in.
By manually combing through Etsy, I could read reviews, look at estimated shipping times, calculate the shipping cost into the overall budget of $50/person, add customization, compare similar products, and - as a bonus - support small businesses. I was able to provide my client with 3 diverse gift options that fit all of her criteria and more that she probably wouldn’t have considered on her own. The ultimate gift that she selected? Personalized packing cubes with each teacher receiving a different colorway and their name embroidered on them. Unique, thoughtful, and something they would actually use - a component I really care about.
The same thing applies for my Gift Consultation service.
With gift consultation, my clients are usually coming to me with a more complex or high stakes occasion they are planning for that involves more logistics and experiential-based planning.
A common trend I have found when trying to map out an experience using an AI tool like ChatGPT is that it does not take into account several critical factors when planning something.
Sure, you can prompt it to find experiences within your area, and it can come up with a sample itinerary or list of things to do. That’s useful for general research. However, when you actually go to book those activities, oftentimes you run into issues.
Without getting too deep in the weeds of technical SEO, websites that require date or seat selection often cannot be read or interpreted by AI. Therefore, you might think you have an incredible list of things to do, but a deeper dive into the booking websites reveals that your requested date and time is not available, or even worse, the event no longer exists. This often leads to people abandoning the gifting process altogether, because they do not trust AI to provide them with a viable option or they simply run out of time to find something.
When you work with me, I take away that frustration and guesswork by doing all of that manual filtering for you, saving you time by only providing you with viable options. I call places ahead and interact with a live human to ask questions that cannot be found online, map out logistics at different times of the day to weigh factors like traffic, and do not face the same constraints that often lead to last minute gifting emergencies.
My ideas come packaged together, and then we are able to refine them based not just on what’s possible, but what feels absolutely right for you, your recipient, and your occasion.
And why pay me money to do what an influencer could give you for free?
The answer is simple: I am not trying to offer you what an influencer gives you for free. I spend most of my time understanding your individual needs and wants on a 1:1 basis, which is - at its core - a completely different business model.
No matter how much an influencer cares about their audience, their business is founded on sharing what is trending, affiliate or commission-based links, and brand deals and sponsorships - all things that they are paid to post about.
Even if both you and they genuinely love the item or experience, they are profiting off of their influence over you. In today’s world that is so saturated with influencers and creators, it is really hard to tell who is posting brands they actually trust, versus who was paid a lot of money to share specific messaging.
Influencer campaigns are designed to generate a lot of clicks, because that is how brands determine who they want to partner with again - the more clicks and conversions generated, the more successful the campaign, and the more likely that brand will work with that influencer again. That structure incentivizes creators to post items that are trending, since the psychology behind a trending item means that everyone feels like they need to have it. While it might feel good in the moment to chase the latest trend, that feeling is often short-lived and can leave the buyer feeling hollow since their purchase was not motivated by a meaningful desire. Free gift guides are typically meant to target the lowest common denominator, please the masses, and share products that have a larger kickback, and for that reason they can often miss the mark.
With et voilà, I am able to focus on the meaning behind the gift, understand intent and nuance, and craft a full gifting experience - something that can never be replicated with a simple click-to-buy. I myself can find it stressful when I feel forced to buy a gift before an occasion and nothing is sparking my interest. With that in mind, rather than feeling like you are settling on something just because you need a gift for something, I want you to feel excited to give your gift because it perfectly encapsulates your gift receiver and your relationship with them.
So do you think all of the above would convince my sister? Did I convince you? ;)
At et voilà, I truly believe that every occasion, big and small, deserves special attention and celebration with a gifting experience that turns it into lasting memory. I invest on getting to know you on a personal level - whether it’s via email or phone call, or both - and read your facial cues, hear your tone, and feel what it means to you in a way that only a 1:1 human interaction can do.
I hope that we can work together to make your occasions feel all the more special! Take a look at what I offer (link to Shop page) and let’s get gifting!
