Small Biz Flash Adam Hewitt

FEATURE

Remember the caveats from last week regarding ChatGPT, including it isn’t 100% correct all the time.  And don’t depend on it to dispense legal and professional advice.

ChatGPT can help you write a business plan.

You can refine ChatGPT’s original output by giving it follow-up commands or asking follow-up questions.

ChatGPT can compose scripts for videos, draft procedure documents, and just about anything else you can imagine.  But you always need to review them for accuracy and real-world viability.

ChatGPT can summarize articles and web pages.

ChatGPT can answer questions too.  One of the most handy is application-specific questions for a unique set of circumstances.

For your more technical staff, ChatGPT can help them write HTML for building web sites, and code in computer languages to build and debug applications.

One of the best ways you can take advantage ChatGPT’s power is to turn your team lose on it.

Train your staff now to get comfortable with AI tools like ChatGPT.

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NEWS ROUNDUP

1
A record number of small businesses – 47% – reported having job vacancies they could not fill in February.
https://www.nfib.com/content/press-release/economy/nfib-jobs-report-small-businesses-report-record-high-levels-of-job-openings/

The economy added 311,000 jobs, which was above experts’ predictions.  But many of those were in lower paying sectors.
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf

February Consumer Price Index was released today, and is up 6% from a year ago.
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm

2
Small businesses remain concerned about a possible recession and are taking a tight-fisted approach with their cash.
https://www.vistage.com/research-center/business-financials/economic-trends/20230307-small-businesses-cautious-wsj-survey/

3
The Small Business Administration has announced National Small Business Week will take place this year from April 30 to May 6.
https://www.sba.gov/article/2023/mar/06/sba-administrator-guzman-announces-national-small-business-week-2023

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This podcast is sponsored by SBS Accounting & Advisors.  Use the promo code FLASH and get 20% off your set up fee!  https://sbsaccountants.com/.

👀 Watch on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmFHZqDGRbOHXjhpicWuqhg.

📧 I would love to hear from you!  Please email me at adam@smallbizflash.com.

🖥️ Learn how I can help your small business at https://eraynay.com/. 

FEATURE

ChatGPT is a conversational AI chatbot.

Open AI is the developer of ChatGPT and is now offering access to the general public.

ChatGPT can help you write content for your small business, such as blog posts.  But, you can’t just copy and paste.  It will need some refining.  Plus, Google can detect AI-generated content.

ChatGPT must still be fact-checked.

You can also generate a title for your blog post using ChatGPT, and a tweet to promote the blog as well.

Don’t use ChatGPT to create legal or accounting or other professional services kind of advice.  Remember, you need to fact check its output.

You can sign up for a free ChatGPT account here:  https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt.

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NEWS ROUNDUP

1
A Supreme Court decision late last month is good news for small businesses, because it limited the power of the IRS to levy penalties on businesses.
https://www.nfib.com/content/press-release/homepage/supreme-court-reins-in-civil-penalty-prosecutions-for-small-businesses/

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-supreme-court-limits-penalties-not-reporting-foreign-accounts-2023-02-28/

2
Inflation remains a big concern for small businesses, according to data recently released by the US Chamber of Commerce.
https://www.uschamber.com/small-business/the-biggest-challenges-small-businesses-are-facing-right-now

3
The Biden administration is proposing legislation that would shift the some of the burden of cyber security from small businesses on to software makers.
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/02/white-house-unveils-national-cyber-strategy-to-shift-security-burden.html

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This podcast is sponsored by SBS Accounting & Advisors.  Use the promo code FLASH and get 20% off your set up fee!  https://sbsaccountants.com/.

👀 Watch on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmFHZqDGRbOHXjhpicWuqhg.

📧 I would love to hear from you!  Please email me at adam@smallbizflash.com.

🖥️ Learn how I can help your small business at https://eraynay.com/.  

FEATURE

YouTube ads can accelerate the process of building up your audience on the platform, and give your brand more exposure.

One of the great things about YouTube advertising is that you can target viewers based on the keywords they are searching for on YouTube, but also on Google (which owns YouTube).

There are numerous other ways to refine your target audience, to get very specific.

Among video ads, there are three main types.  First, skippable in-stream ads are those you can pass over after you’ve watched them for five seconds.

Non-skippable in-stream ads are shorter.  Their maximum length is 15 seconds.

Bumper ads are like non-skippable in-stream ads, but only last six seconds.

According to Influencer Marketing Hub, YouTube ads have an average cost-per-view of $0.01 – $0.03.
https://influencermarketinghub.com/how-much-do-youtube-ads-cost/

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NEWS ROUNDUP

1
The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index was up in January to 5.4% from a year earlier.
https://www.reuters.com/markets/rates-bonds/fed-seen-raising-rates-three-more-times-after-strong-inflation-reading-2023-02-24/

Recent figures show that worker claims for unemployment benefits dipped last week, there was an increase in January in retail sales, and 4Q GDP rose by 2.7%.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/economy-showing-strength-in-early-2023-after-last-quarters-gdp-gain-revised-modestly-lower-5b068ade

2
Republicans in the US House are launching an oversight effort of numerous federal agencies in an attempt to determine how their regulation-making is impacting small businesses.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/02/23/house-gop-presses-agencies-on-small-business-rules-00084049

https://williams.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-williams-leads-small-business-committee-oversight-biden

3
A lack of financing or investors was the top reason that startups failed in 2022, according to a new study.
https://www.skynova.com/blog/top-reasons-startups-fail

4
Amazon is expanding its educational offerings to small businesses through the Amazon’s Small Business Academy.
https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/small-business/meet-the-new-amazon-small-business-academy-an-expanded-suite-of-free-resources-for-entrepreneurs

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This podcast is sponsored by SBS Accounting & Advisors.  Use the promo code FLASH and get 20% off your set up fee!  https://sbsaccountants.com/.

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I would love to hear from you!  Please email me at adam@smallbizflash.com. 

FEATURE

Your YouTube strategy has to be sustainable, so you don’t quit after a few weeks or months.

Dig into old blog articles or speeches you’ve given that could be updated and turned into short videos.

YouTube’s algorithm rewards videos that hold the attention of the viewer.

Once you have the video produced and on your YouTube channel, share it across all your communication channels.

You don’t need a super slick, highly polished video to get your message out.

Create playlists around your most compelling topics.

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NEWS ROUNDUP

1
The Federal Trade Commission is proposing a new rule, called the Non-Compete Clause Rule, which would eliminate noncompete contracts agreements in the workplace and nullify existing state and local laws on non-competes.
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2023-01-19/pdf/2023-00414.pdf

2
The vast majority of small companies want bi-partisan action to address their concerns over a variety of issues to make it easier and less expensive to do business.
https://www.jobcreatorsnetwork.com/press_releases/new-poll-small-businesses-gravely-concerned-about-economy-want-bipartisan-action-from-congress/

3
Small businesses are increasingly expected to provide employee benefits like their larger counterparts.
https://www.vestwell.com/read/2023-retirement-trends-report#cd827ccc9cb8

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This podcast is sponsored by SBS Accounting & Advisors.  Use the promo code FLASH and get 20% off your set up fee!  https://sbsaccountants.com/.

----------

I would love to hear from you!  Please email me at adam@smallbizflash.com. 

FEATURE

Resources:

Wyzowl Video Marketing Statistics 2023
https://www.wyzowl.com/video-marketing-statistics/

What is the Ideal Length of Videos on YouTube?
https://www.tubics.com/blog/how-to-master-on-long-form-video-content

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NEWS ROUNDUP

1
A poll by the invoicing platform Skynova found that 91% of small companies are currently labor hoarding.
https://www.skynova.com/blog/small-business-and-labor-hoarding

2
The federal government could do a better job of interacting with small businesses, according to owners recently surveyed by Goldman Sachs.
https://www.goldmansachs.com/citizenship/10000-small-businesses/US/infographics/february-2023/index.html

3
As inflation has taken its toll, many small and medium-sized businesses feel they can’t raise prices further and still be competitive, so they are seeking other sources of working capital.
https://www.pymnts.com/smbs/2023/digital-banks-fill-gaps-in-small-business-working-capital-loans/

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This podcast is sponsored by SBS Accounting & Advisors.  Use the promo code FLASH and get 20% off your set up fee!  https://sbsaccountants.com/.

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I would love to hear from you!  Please email me at adam@smallbizflash.com.

Today’s guest is Damon Zick, owner of Life Brand Academy:

Damon’s email:  damon@damonzick.com
Damon’s LinkedIn page:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/damonzick/
Life Brand Academy’s YouTube page:  https://www.youtube.com/@lifebrandacademy

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NEWS ROUNDUP

1
The number of new jobs created soared to 517,000 in January.
https://www.kiplinger.com/investing/jobs-report-shows-massive-hiring-in-january-what-the-experts-are-saying

January one-month annualized hourly earnings growth for small business employees fell to 2.88%, the lowest level since 2020, according to Paychex.
https://www.paychex.com/employment-watch/#!/news-release/

2
Xero has found that sales growth for US small businesses continued to slow and recorded its two smallest increases of the past 20 months in July 2022 and September 2022.
https://www.xero.com/us/media-releases/xero-small-business-insights-usa-january-2023/

According to an estimate by Goldman Sachs, by the end of this year Americans will have spent two-thirds of the extra savings they were able to stash away during Covid.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/once-flush-savings-accounts-are-starting-to-run-dry-11675691637

3
Walmart has launched an e-commerce site for small and medium-sized businesses called Walmart Business.
https://www.retaildive.com/news/walmart-business-e-commerce-site-small-businesses/640946/

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This podcast is sponsored by SBS Accounting & Advisors.  Use the promo code FLASH and get 20% off your set up fee!  https://sbsaccountants.com/.

----------

I would love to hear from you!  Please email me at adam@smallbizflash.com.