Small Biz Flash
Your flash briefing for small business news, trends, and insights.
Episodes
FEATURE
Nearly 1/3 of Americans would be unable to cover an unexpected expense of $400.
Remember to consult your financial, HR, and legal counsel when creating any specific program.
Congress passed the SECURE 2.0 Act, which will enable employers to set up ESAs for their employees tied to their retirement accounts, beginning in 2024.
Outside of options available within SECURE 2.0, an employer could set up a...
FEATURE
Chances are, few of the commercial depositors had checked into these banks’ health before doing business with them. But even if they had, the Wall Street Journal reports that SVB’s trouble wasn’t reflected in credit ratings.
What can you as a small business owner or manager do to protect your assets, especially if you must keep high amounts of operating capital?
One option is to spread your funds...
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...
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 tit...
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 vi...
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.
Y...
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://w...
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...
Join us at Illuminate 2023 on Tuesday, February 7. FREE admission! Details and registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/illuminate-feb-7th-2023-tickets-519912471197
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Today’s guest is Jonathan Bill, owner of SBS Accounting & Advisors:
Jonathan’s email: jbill@sbsaccountants.com
Jonathan’s LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sbsaccounting/
SBS Accounting & Advisors: https:...
Join us at Illuminate 2023 on Tuesday, February 7. FREE admission! Details and registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/illuminate-feb-7th-2023-tickets-519912471197
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Today’s guest is Jonathan Bill, owner of SBS Accounting & Advisors:
Jonathan’s email: jbill@sbsaccountants.com
Jonathan’s LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sbsaccounting/
SBS Accounting & Advisors: h...
NEWS ROUNDUP
1
The rate of inflation, as measured by the consumer price index, cooled in December to 6.5% compared with a year earlier.
https://apnews.com/article/december-2022-inflation-report-72bb938a443ab0500bd72d23f62214ad
In a recent poll of economists by the Wall Street Journal, experts put the likelihood of a recession at 61% in the coming months.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/despite-easing-pric...
NEWS ROUNDUP
1
The December jobs report was released late last week, showing continued strength in the labor market.
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf
Small business owners still plan to add workers in 2023.
https://www.nfib.com/content/press-release/economy/nfib-jobs-report-hiring-plans-weaken-in-december-as-labor-shortages-challenge-small-businesses/
The rate of hourly wage gro...
FEATURE
Get More Customers Through Referrals – Surviving the Economic Downturn – Tactic #5
https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2012/consumer-trust-in-online-social-and-mobile-advertising-grows/
https://news.constantcontact.com/press-release-customer-engagement-major-focus-small-business-technology-according-constant-contact-t
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NEWS ROUNDUP
1
Retail sales in November f...
NEWS ROUNDUP
1
The producer price index, a measure of wholesale inflation, rose 7.4% in November from a year earlier.
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ppi.nr0.htm
The consumer price index also eased last month, to a year-over-year increase of 7.1%.
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm
2
Nearly half of small business owners – 47% – described current conditions as middle of the road ...
FEATURE – Health Insurance Options for a Small Business
Today’s guest is Monica Watson, owner and president of Hene Watson Advisors:
Monica’s email: monica@henewatson.com
Monica’s LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monica-watson-6582a413
Suggested resource:
Health Insurance Marketplace Calculator
https://www.kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/
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NEWS RO...
NEWS ROUNDUP
1
Durable goods orders were up sharply in October, by 1%, far surpassing analysts’ expectations.
https://www.census.gov/manufacturing/m3/adv/pdf/durgd.pdf
First time jobless claims jumped by 17,000 last week, and are now at a three-month high.
https://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf
2
The Small Business Administration is proposing a rule to allow more financing companies such to offer...
NEWS ROUNDUP
1
Retail sales surged last month 1.3%, exceeding forecasters’ expectations.
https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/retail-sales
A new report out by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows an increase in total household debt in 3Q22 of 2.2% to an all-time high of $16.5 trillion.
https://www.newyorkfed.org/newsevents/news/research/2022/20221115
2
The National Small B...
11-15-22 – Survive and Thrive the Economic Downturn – Tactic #1: Send Your Customers a Video Message
NEWS ROUNDUP
1
* The rate of inflation (Consumer Price Index) last month was lower than expected.
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm
* Inflation at the wholesale level also eased in October.
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ppi.nr0.htm
* The University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment fell in November.
http://www.sca.isr.umich.edu/
2
The Small Business Optimism Index dr...
FEATURE – Advance Your Employees’ Engagement – Part 2 of 2
Today’s guests are Mac and Kim Cantrell, owners of 2 Impact:
Mac’s email: mac@2impactlife.com
Kim’s email: kim@2impactlife.com
Mac’s LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maccantrell/
Kim’s LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimrcantrell/
2Impact: https://www.2impactlife.com/
Suggested resources:
U.S. Employee...
FEATURE – Advance Your Employees’ Engagement – Part 1 of 2
Today’s guests are Mac and Kim Cantrell, owners of 2 Impact:
Mac’s email: mac@2impactlife.com
Kim’s email: kim@2impactlife.com
Mac’s LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maccantrell/
Kim’s LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimrcantrell/
2Impact: https://www.2impactlife.com/
Suggested resources:
U.S. Employee...
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