Episodes
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How to Market Your Business
How important is Gen Z to current and future business objectives? 9 in 10 marketers agreed that the future growth of any business depends on influencing younger decision-makers. So how do we optimize our marketing to Gen Z? for information about our collection and use of personal data for...
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Crains 100 Best Places to Work List Revealed
Crain's released its list of the best places to work in Michigan 2026. The list is determined based on factors like companies offering its employees dedicated happiness managers and home buying assistance programs to pet friendly work days, profit sharing plans, and even the occasional round of...
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A Breakdown of US Adult Use of Most Popular AI Tools
New data from YouGov finds that during the six-month period from February through July twenty twenty-six, one-third of US adults indicated that they've used generative AI in the previous thirty days and that their use of AI specifically occurred by using ChatGPT. And while ChatGPT is this year's...
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Key Insights to Winning Consumers this Holiday Season
consumers are waiting longer than ever to pull the trigger on purchases. 43.5% of consumers said they now spend more time researching purchases than they did two years ago, and more than a quarter said they lean harder on recommendations from people in similar situations. That according to a new...
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TV Viewership via Streaming Only Continues to Grow
All things digital continue to shape our lives in ever-changing ways. And as business owners, we're forced to keep up with these trends to meet customers where they are. And while there's a lot of uncertainty with respect to specifics- which channels or which platforms to focus on, one thing is…
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Disclosure of Use of AI in Advertising Becoming More Widespread
The Interactive Advertising Bureau, also known as the IAB, has just released the second version of its AI transparency and disclosure framework. Carolyn Giegerich, IAB vice president of AI, says this: "Trust is everything between brand and its customers, and being honest about the use of AI is…
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Fast Company's Most Innovative List Open for Applications
Go to fastcompany.com to learn more and apply today. for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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Back to School Shopping Strategies that Work
New NRF data shows that back-to-school shoppers are shopping this year with the help of AI-powered shopping tools, discounts, promotions, and secondhand products to stretch their budgets. What are key differentiators this year? As just mentioned, consumers are using those AI tools available to…
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Paychecks Small Business Employment Report Shows Positive News
John Gibson, Paychex president and CEO, had this to say about the data in a press release alongside the release of the data. "Small businesses continue to demonstrate remarkable resilience heading into the back half of the year, and overall employment across the Paychex client base continues to…
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Ann Arbor Spark Offers Business Assistance Program
Go to mismallbusiness.org to get full programming. for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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Americans Facing Challenges to Reach Retirement Successfully
A big concern for business owners wanting, or in some cases, needing to sell to an aging American population. The struggle that these various demographic groups are facing to reach retirement successfully with excess cash to spend in retirement is real. And as business owners, we need to be…
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Use of BNPL Payment Options Grows
When the consumer turns to BNPL, it signals that they've run out of other better options and are using it as a last resort. And beyond using BNPL more, consumers are using it for even smaller purchases, including buying groceries. Of those who are relying more on this payment method, twenty-four...
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How Consumer Purchasing Behavior is Changing Today
Prime Day sales hit a record 26.4 billion dollars, that's a nine point three percent increase year over year according to Adobe Analytics, data from this year's sales capture by impact.com shows that transactions fell by twenty-five percent, while conversion rates declined by thirty-one percent,...
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Grant Funding is an Attractive Resource for Small Businesses
Consider applying for a grant as at least part of your fundraising objective. You can go to uschamber.com, go to the business financing section of the site, and you'll find a tab for small business grants and programs. for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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New DATA on Effectiveness of Loyalty Programs
Marketing Dive, the online publication followed by marketing executives, reports that Ernst & Young research has found that loyalty enrollment is at or near all-time highs. But nearly half of customers say they're willing to shop outside of a program if they find a better deal elsewhere. As a...
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Record Spending Projected for this years back to School Shopping Season
The NRF notes that 62% of shoppers have already started their back to school spending, while 46% of those who haven't finished shopping yet say they're waiting for better deals before completing their list. Mark Matthews, NRF's chief economist and executive director of research, said this with…
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Reddit Grows as Influential Social Media Platform
Reddit offers its loyal content consumers and producers the chance to establish their voice in any of over 100,000 topic community threads known as subreddits. And it's these communities that center around subject matter of interest and passion for these various members of the communities, and…
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CNBC's List of Top States for Doing Business
Michigan fares extremely well, coming in at number six best state in the country for doing business. for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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Participation in Labor Force by Men and Women Declining
Why the decline? Well, a new paper from the University of Connecticut theorizes that the participation rate could be deeply tied to generational experience. Economists Remy Levin and Daniela Vedart noted that men's beliefs about work are shaped particularly during childhood. Young men who grow up...
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US Chamber of Commerce Top 100 Businesses Open for Entries
Get your business in front of a national audience through print, radio, broadcast, and digital media, plus a dedicated business profile on the Chamber of Commerce website. You'll learn from top experts and connect with standout small business owners from across the country, and you'll receive...
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Cyber Attacks on Small Businesses on the Rise
An annual revenue loss from cyberattacks averages about $1.85 million. Why the increase in attacks on small businesses? Well, one, small businesses simply have weaker defenses against these attacks. And two, as we mentioned in the open, AI is now powering these attacks at a much greater…
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Customer Personalization Critical in Business Today
Wondering how you get started with personalization? Well, starting at the easiest level first, simply have all of your outbound correspondence go to your customers using their first name when you address them. There are many tools that can help you do just that on an automated basis, and at a...
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Popularity of Private Label Brands Grows
FMI, the Food Industry Association's new annual private label report, finds that 92% of US shoppers now have private label products in their home. That's up from 89% last year. Private brand dollar sales increased 2.8% for the year, compared to a gain of 2.6% for national brands. That according…
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SMS Marketing Proving to be Effective Channel
There's an often overlooked but highly effective marketing channel that you simply have to consider these days if you're in business, and that channel is text messaging, or SMS marketing as it's known in the trade. In 2026, 86% of consumers opted into business text messages, and 75% of businesses...
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Fathers Day Sales Results Set Record This Year
Forty-five percent of consumers purchased a gift for a father or stepfather, followed by a husband at twenty-five percent, sons at thirteen percent, brother ten percent, friend eight percent, and grandfather seven percent. As in the past, greeting cards are the most popular gift for Father's Day,...
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Total Consumer Spending on Games Strong
As published on gamedeveloper.com, one thing consumers refuse to give up on or cut back on, in spite of how challenging the economy may be, is engaging in and spending on digital games. The total consumer spending on games topped sixty billion dollars in the US in twenty twenty-five. for...
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The Power of Audio in the Marketing Mix
The power of audio represents an opportunity for brands. Brands unlock meaningful growth when they become part of culture, and audio, an increasingly dynamic channel offering scale, intimacy, and efficient reach, provides a powerful path forward, the report says. It argues that in an increasingly...
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Newsletter Advertising is Marketing that Works
So many options are available to us when it comes to engaging new and existing customers as a small business, but here's a good old standby that just flat-out works. For years, newsletter advertising sat on the edges of most media plans. It was seen as niche and hard to scale, but all of that is...
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Gamif ication Becomes More Powerful Tool in Customer Journey Success
Looking for new ways to drive awareness and traction to your business and what it is that you sell? There's a powerful way to do that in the form of what's known as gamification that might be the magic bullet. New research carried out by TMS, a global technology marketing and sourcing company…
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Facebook Emerging as Leader in Social Commerce
Social commerce, which combines the power of social media's influencing with the ability to close the purchase of a product at the moment you've been influenced to do so. It's hot, and it's getting hotter. Now, the most well-known example of social commerce is that conducted by the TikTok Shop…
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Small Business Optimism Sentiment Drops To New Lows
NFIB's Uncertainty Index rose three points to 91, more than 23 points above its long-run average of 68. So what specifically is bringing small business owners down these days? For one, it's high fuel costs. NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg said in a statement, "More small business owners are...
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Interest in Traveling to Ticketed Events this Summer Brisk
Emily Hartman, general manager at Allianz Partners, said in a statement, "Travelers today are looking for more than just time away. They're seeking experiences that feel meaningful, memorable, and worth investing in. Whether it's traveling for a once-in-a-lifetime concert, a championship sporting...
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Payments to Businesses Made Late are Increasing
If you're a small business in particular, you need to be aware of the increasingly challenging playing field when it comes to managing your cash. You need to be prepared to be paid late in a meaningful number of cases, and to do that, you need to make sure you have a sufficient cash-on-hand...
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AI Now a Force in Finding Healthcare Providers
According to a 2026 Patient Choice report from healthcare reputation management firm Rater Eight, and as reported by MediaPost, reliance on AI to choose a healthcare provider has more than doubled in the past year from 17% a year ago to 36% this year, completely upending traditional methods like...
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Influence and Marketing Campaigns Proving Effective
If you're looking to add an effective marketing tactic to your campaigns, try influencer or creator campaigns, and set aside budget to add in order to boost these campaigns once they're proving effective. It's a tactic that's seeing more and more of the marketing departments' budgets these days,...
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AI to Create More Jobs by 2028
Kaylin Lohmaster, Director Analyst in Gartner's HR practice, said in a statement with the release of the study's results, "AI is ultimately going to reverse the course and result in more jobs gained than those lost by twenty twenty-eight." This does depend, however, on the need for organizations…
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More Businesses Started by Retirees
New data shows that there is a growing number of older adults that are actually staying in the workforce or reentering it, or even opting to start a business of their own in retirement in order to simply make ends meet. Roughly one in five Americans age 65 plus are employed or looking for work.…
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Sources Americans Trust Most Today
In an era when trust seems to be more in doubt than ever before with the proliferation of AI and media sources which take positions rather than adhering to basic editorial standards and practices, who can we trust? Well, a new survey from TD Bank sheds some light on what sources Americans find to...
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Ann Arbor Spark Hosts Annual Event
Paul Krucke, president and CEO of Ann Arbor SPARK, had this to say about their big day. "The event is an opportunity to reflect on the partnerships, innovation, and leadership that continue to move our region forward," he said. "This year's honorees represent the very best of what makes the Ann...
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Leaders in the Athletic Apparel Category
Athletic apparel is a near-universal category in which Nike leads by a wide margin. They own a 22% mental market share, the broadest occasion footprint, in a new study conducted by Morning Consult. For reference, mental market share means a brand's mental availability, how often it comes to mind...
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List of Most Valuable Global Brands
Google has edged Apple out as the number one spot on this list now. Apple had occupied the number one spot for the last four years. This year, it's Google. The tech giant's brand value grew 57% over last year according to the data and analytics giant, which now values it at $1.48 trillion. The…
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Mothers Day Spending Sets New Record
Mother's Day shoppers spent an average of $284.25 per person for a total spend of around $38 billion. Who did all that spending? While both men and women spent more this year, it's men who continue to be most likely to splurge. This year, men budgeted an average of $346 per person, compared to...
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Average Value of US Citizen to Advertisers
What are you worth? Well, that can be answered of course, in a lot of different ways, but in the context of business specifically, when it comes to your value, the average value of a US citizen in the advertising world. You're worth this, according to a recent report that analyzes and estimates…
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Consumer Fraud Grows on Social Media
As consumers, we need to have our guards up more than ever to protect against fraudulent activity. And now new data from the Federal Trade Commission shows that social media has become the leading channel for consumer fraud, with reported losses reaching 2.1 billion in 2025. The figure marks an...
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Social Media Advertising Revenues Grow
David Cohen, CEO at the International Advertising Bureau says this, the revenue growth reflects a market that has reoriented around performance channel. As expectations for measurable outcomes rise, investment is concentrating in areas that can directly correlate to spend when it comes to...
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Spam Calls Are Becoming A Public Trust Crisis
New data from a survey just released by True Caller, entitled The 2026 Phone Fraud and AI Threat Survey puts into perspective just how bothersome these calls are. First of the individuals polled, 75% say they've been targeted by a spam call or a text in the past 12 months. for information about…
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Creator Marketing Drives Brand Awareness and Sales
Trying to find an angle in your marketing strategy, one that reaches your audience at an attractive cost per acquisition? One that will help you break out from the noise and get noticed. One that will stand out from the same old, same old approach to creating awareness and driving sales. While a...
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Compliance Issues Present Challenges to Business Owners
LegalZoom Inc. America's number one online legal services company, has just released data from a new survey of business owners, which reveals that 33% of small business owners say compliance requirements have prevented them from pursuing new business opportunities. The most often missed...
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Business Boot Camp for Military Veterans
The comprehensive program blends practical education, experiential learning, and personalized mentorship, providing a powerful foundation for veterans to launch and scale their own ventures. The program runs from June 10th through June 12th in Salt Lake City. You can go to patriotbootcamp.org to...
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Trust of AI Search Not Widely Embraced
Roughly 65% of Americans have used an artificial intelligence search in the past six months. But only 15% trust it, according to a recent study conducted by Yelp. What's the issue? It's trust. Americans simply aren't trusting of AI yet to conduct the study. for information about our collection…
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About this show
WJR Business Beat as heard on 760 WJR, hosted by Guy Gordon and StartupNation's founder and CEO, Jeff Sloan.
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