Monday, December 23, 2024

Rancho Santiago Community College District’s partnership helps local businesses thrive

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By Larry Urish, contributing writer

To some people, the mere mention of artificial intelligence brings to mind a dystopian image: armies of digitally controlled bots lording over their “meat puppets,” who slave away at the whim of their mechanical overlords.

Roger Lloyd is not one of these people.

Keenly aware of the advantages of using AI, Lloyd helps businesses get started and thrive through his work at the Orange County / Inland Empire Small Business Development Center. One of 62 such networks (composed of more than 1,000 separate locations) throughout the country, the organization furnishes free consulting, training and resources, thanks to the efforts of some 100 local business owners and industry experts. Lloyd serves as director of the Small Business Development Center’s Marketing Center, hosted and supported by the Rancho Santiago Community College District.

Rather than fear artificial intelligence, the key to working with AI, Lloyd stressed, is to understand how to leverage it as a stunningly powerful productivity tool. “The human brain is the most powerful thing in the world,” said Lloyd, who ran an AI consulting firm from 2015 to 2019. “Creative thought will never be replaced. But about 80% of our time working is transactional (busy work), and only 20% is creative. AI allows us to flip that, to 80% creative, 20% transactional.”

The Marketing Center focuses on AI growth strategy and digital marketing to support small businesses through one-on-one consulting and group training. “Some of the areas we focus on include digital-presence optimization, brand development, email marketing, maximizing social media presence, building strategic marketing plans and using AI with a focus on marketing and content marketing,” Lloyd said.

“By hiring business owners who are expert consultants, we bring a foundation of growth in AI and marketing to our business community. … Thanks to funding from the Small Business Administration, the California Office of the Small Business Advocate and other local organizations, this service is at no cost to business owners.”

Rancho Santiago Community College District plays a key role in this service. “Their mission is to educate the future workforce and to stimulate local economic development,” Lloyd said. “By hosting the Marketing Center, they support this mission.”

In addition, “The district is behind various community efforts to promote the Marketing Center as a resource for small business owners,” said Mike Daniels, Orange County / Inland Empire Small Business Development Center’s network director.

The potential of what AI can do for small businesses boggles the mind. For example, applying for a government contract, which includes going through a painstaking request-for-proposal process, could take six to eight hours. “In our testing with AI, we can do that in about 64 seconds,” Lloyd said. Creating a monthly social media calendar, which includes postings across the key channels (Instagram, LinkedIn and so forth) took 10 to 20 hours just three years ago. Using artificial intelligence, Lloyd said, it can be done in less than 30 minutes.

“We recently worked with an IT services provider, using AI to create automated emails that were personalized, and in only three months, they increased their sales by 10%,” Lloyd said. “And for a consulting company, we used (automated) language translation. By doing this, we opened up a brand-new market for them. In only a month, they’ve already doubled their lead opportunities.”

The services provided by Lloyd’s Marketing Center team are primarily hands-on. “We bring in experts from across the country (via Zoom) to provide training in AI applications and digital marketing,” Lloyd said. “One of the unique offerings we provide is a four-week AI certificate program, composed of four group sessions and four one-hour one-on-one meetings. This program begins with the foundational elements of effectively using AI, then includes practical applications: for example, creating social media calendars, videos and marketing plans based on a businesses’ analytics. So far, we’ve had over 100 business owners complete this AI certificate program.”

And these services extend beyond group teaching and one-on-one consulting. Last July, the group partnered with the Orange County Regional Consortium to host “Building an AI-Ready Community.”

“We brought together 50 people representing four different groups: workforce development, education, city government and small business owners,” Lloyd said. “The event was aimed to help create a workforce coming out of our colleges that’s ready to support small business owners.”

The partnership with the Rancho Santiago Community College District is critical and appreciated. “Through the RSCCD’s comprehensive educational programs and the OC/IE SBDC’s expert business guidance, the partnership is committed to ensuring that both emerging and established businesses have the support they need to thrive,” Lloyd said. “This alliance is a testament to our shared ambition for innovation and growth, reinforcing the region’s economic stability. The District is leading in this area. … And they’re very supportive of everything I’m doing at the Small Business Development Center.”

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