ChatGPT for Small Business: The Comprehensive Guide

If you’re not big into technology, you’d be forgiven for still being a bit foggy on the whole ChatGPT thing. Lots of people are asking what is ChatGPT? And what about ChatGPT for Small Business? Keep reading because we’ve got you covered for everything AI chatbots-related.

We’re also excited to share our recent interview with Steve Toy, CEO of fan-favourite language app, Memrise, on how chatbot technology is giving them the edge in a competitive industry.

Table of Contents

1. What is ChatGPT?
   • What is GPT?
   • What is a chatbot?
2. How to Try ChatGPT
3. How Can ChatGPT Help Small Business Owners?
   • Customer Service
   • Lead Generation
   • Content Creation
4. Welcoming our new AI Overlords

What is this thing, anyway?

ChatGPT is a state-of-the-art AI language model that launched on November 30, 2022. To understand what it is intended to do, you have to understand two things: chatbots and GPT.

GPT is an AI technology that is being used by many businesses to create a range of advanced AI solutions like chatbots, language translation systems, and content generation systems. It can write high-quality text that is difficult to distinguish from words written by an actual word-writing human like me.

Chatbots are computer programs designed to simulate conversation with human users, especially over the Internet. Chatbots use natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning algorithms to understand and respond to user input in a conversational manner. They range from the amazingly helpful to the infuriatingly useless. For example, my bank’s “automated assistant” shouldn’t expect a Christmas card. 😒

AI: The Consumer Model

GPT is intended for developers to integrate into tech solutions. ChatGPT is the consumer version that is intended to “familiarize” all of us with the technology, although I think it’s about getting us all addicted to having instant access to complex amounts of information.

If you Google something, you still have to go from search result to search result, reading them to see which one meets your needs. If you ChatGPT something, you instantly get a tidy little summary all of those search results, along with a big old hit of dopamine.

It’s still a bit of a party trick while “regular folks” figure out how to fit it into our lives, but it is entertaining in a way. Here’s what happens when you ask it for a joke:

How to Try it Out

You can access ChatGPT for free here, and this weekend it launched a paid version in Canada that gives you priority access and extra features for $20 bucks a month. The priority access is useful because so many people are obsessed with ChatGPT that it can’t handle the traffic, so ChatGPT is sometimes down for users who don’t have a paid account due to limitations on the number of requests that can be made to the model.

How can ChatGPT Help Small Business Owners?

Here are my top three ways ChatGPT can help small business owners:

#1 – Customer Service

ChatGPT can be used to provide quick and efficient customer service. Small business owners can use the program to answer common questions and assist customers with their inquiries, freeing up time for more important tasks. A small business owner can get ChatGPT to deal with customer service questions by with a chatbot. Here’s how:

• Choose a chatbot platform based on your needs and budget. There are several that use ChatGPT technology, such as OpenAI, BotStar, and Replika. (see Fig. 1)
• Set up your new chatbot by providing information about your business and the types of questions you want it to answer. The platform will uses this information to train the chatbot, but manage your expectations. Even Siri has questions she can’t answer, and your chatbot is still learning.
• Integrate the chatbot into your existing systems, like your website, customer relationship management (CRM) system, or other tools you use to manage customer interactions.
• Monitor its performance and make improvements as needed. You can do this by tracking customer interactions and using data to identify areas for improvement.

#2 – Lead Generation

ChatGPT-enabled chatbots can be integrated into your WordPress site to collect information from potential customers. This can help small business owners identify and target their ideal audience more effectively. (see Fig. 1)

Figure 1 – Which Chatbot Is Best?

	OpenAI	BotStar	Replika
PRICE	Free to ???   Open AI uses a complicated pay-as-you-go token system. With nothing to compare it to, it’s hard to determine what the actual cost would be.	Paid plans starting at $49/month US	Paid plans starting at $9.99/month US
FEATURES	-Natural language processing -Customer conversation management -Integration with other platforms	-Natural language processing -Customer conversation management -Integration with other platforms	-Personal AI chatbot platform -Allows users to create and train a chatbot that they can interact with. -Integrates with Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp
EASE-OF-USE	A bit techy, so if that’s not your thing you’re going to want to pick another platform.	Easy-Peasy. BotStar has a simple drag-and-drop interface for creating and managing chatbots.	So simple. Replika has an intuitive interface that makes it easy to create, customize, and deploy a chatbot.

#3 – Content Creation

ChatGPT can generate high-quality content at lightning speed. mall business owners save time and resources on content creation so they can focus on other things.

You may be asking, “If ChatGPT can write for me, what do I need a copywriter for?”  Trust me, this was one of the first questions I asked myself about the GPT platform. Is it going to put Create That out of business?

Luckily for me, the answer appears to be no. Or at least, not yet. People who make a living coming up with social media captions and writing staff bios or product descriptions should maybe consider branching out though, because ChatGPT can do all of those tasks far faster than the most experienced writer.

On the other hand, it’s not so good when it comes to being creative. Or funny for that matter, as evidenced by its attempt at telling a joke.

FIGURE 2 – CHATBOT VS. HUMAN

Chatbots are great for:	Humans are required for:
Data collection and analysis -Chatbots can quickly collect and analyze large amounts of data, providing insights and recommendations.	Anything creative -If you need high-quality, creative writing that is engaging, funny or emotionally resonant with readers, you aren’t going to get it from a chatbot. They’re just too…robotic.
Facts-only text -Product descriptions, FAQs, blog posts: anything that doesn’t require creativity or persuasiveness.	Strategy development: -Chatbots don’t have the ability to understand brand voice, or develop a content strategy that aligns with your business goals.
Content optimization: -Finding long tail keyphrases and writing meta descriptions.	Cultural sensitivity: -Chatbots may not be able to understand cultural differences and sensitivities, which may result it unintentionally inappropriate content.

Our New AI Overlords?

via GIPHY

The pace of innovation has sped up immensely over the last century. (Figure 3) As we reach new levels of connectivity and computing power, we’re able to experience (or, forced to endure) exponentially more changes to how we communicate.

There are a LOT of issues to consider about how AI language models can and should be used. This technology is not without concerns. But it is also full of potential.

The bottom line is, ChatGPT offers small business owners a cost-effective way to automate some basic tasks. The platform is undoubtedly a game-changer but not right away for small companies who won’t be automating production or building their own app.  

My recommendation? Play around with it by asking it some questions. That will help you brainstorm ideas on how it might fit into your life. Plus, it’s just fun.

FIGURE 3 – THE PRODUCT CYCLE SPINS FASTER