Wednesday, October 28, 2026. Paid advertising rents you customers. When the budget stops, the calls stop. This episode separates the customers you pay for from the customers you earn, and what to own so the second group keeps growing.

What to do: list where your last ten customers came from and mark each one paid or earned. Count how many came from reviews and referrals. Decide which source you own and which one you rent.

The prompt for this episode is called Paid Or Earned. Get it at DamonCharlesWilliams.com. Part 3 of 5 in the Google series. Check it yourself: support.google.com/business/answer/7091

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Tuesday, October 27, 2026. Who holds the login to your Google Business Profile? If a former employee, a web designer, or a marketing company set it up, they may own it, and you could lose your reviews and your listing when the relationship ends.

What to do: confirm that the owner of the profile is an account the business controls. Keep the login and recovery details in the business's name. Add a second owner you trust. Write down the date you checked.

The prompt for this episode is called Who Holds The Login. Get it at DamonCharlesWilliams.com. Part 2 of 5 in the Google series. Check it yourself: support.google.com/business/answer/7091

Monday, October 26, 2026. A barber asks how to get found on Google before a customer calls someone else. Most customers choose from the first businesses they see, and reviews and a profile in your own name decide who that is.

What to do: ask every customer for a review at the happiest moment. Keep the profile and the booking link in the business's name. For 30 days, count reviews asked, reviews received, and walk ins who said how they found you.

The prompt for this episode is called Ask For The Referral. Get it at DamonCharlesWilliams.com. Part 1 of 5 in the Google series. Check it yourself: support.google.com/business/answer/7091

Friday, October 23, 2026.

A CPA and a bookkeeper are two different jobs, and most owners buy one and assume they got both. Below is where to find the rule behind each step, so you can check it yourself.

THE NINE STEPS AND WHERE TO VERIFY THEM

(1) Split the work into two jobs on paper first. Bookkeeping is recording what moved, while it is moving. Tax work is reporting what moved after the year closes. No state licenses bookkeeping, so the word carries no credential on its own. Verify a CPA license at CPAverify, the NASBA lookup.

(2) Check the credential against the IRS list, not the business card. Only attorneys, certified public accountants and enrolled agents may practice before the IRS on any matter, includ

Thursday, October 22, 2026.

When a check comes back, most owners eat it. Arizona has a civil statute that lets you ask for twice the amount, and the whole thing turns on a twelve day clock most people never start.

THE STATUTE

A.R.S. section 12-671, Civil liability for drawing a check or draft without sufficient funds.

WHAT IT GIVES YOU

Subsection A. A person who, with intent to defraud, draws a check knowing there are insufficient funds or credit is liable to the holder for twice the amount of the check, or fifty dollars, whichever is greater, plus court costs and reasonable attorney's fees. Total recovery is two times the check.

THE PART THAT DOES THE WORK

Subsection C. You do not have to prove what was in someone's head. Proof that there were insufficient funds at presentment, plus failure to pay within twelve days after receiving notice, is prima facie evidence of intent to defraud.

The twelve days runs from when they RECEIVE the notice, not from when you mail it. The signed return receipt is the only thing that proves when the clock started.

HOW THE NOTICE HAS TO BE SENT

Subsection E. In person, or in writing by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the address as it appears on the check. The address on the check controls, not any other address you have.

THE ROUTINE

(1) The check comes back.

(2) Send the certified notice that week.

(3) Count twelve days from the signature date on the return receipt.

(4) If they pay inside twelve days it is over. If they do not, the record is already built.

TWO THINGS TO WATCH

Subsection F. This is the civil statute. It does not apply to any criminal case. Arizona's criminal bad check provisions are separate, at A.R.S. section 13-1808. Do not reference criminal charges in a collection notice.

Doubling can carry you past the small claims limit. Arizona small claims is $5,000 or less, A.R.S. section 22-503(A). A $3,000 check doubles to $6,000, which moves the case to the civil division of justice court where attorneys are allowed. That matters, because this statute pays attorney's fees and small claims bars attorneys under A.R.S. section 22-512(B).

TODAY'S PROMPT: BAD CHECK NOTICE

Get it at DamonCharlesWilliams.com.

This is Arizona. Every state has its own bad check statute, and the multiplier and the notice window are different. Look up yours. This episode is information, not legal advice.

Wednesday, October 21, 2026.

Small claims court is built so you can walk in without a lawyer. The price of that is there is no appeal. One hearing, decision final. Below is where to find the rule behind each step, so you can check it yourself.

THE ROUTINE AND WHERE TO VERIFY IT

(1) Build the record before you file. The agreement or the invoice. Every text and email where they acknowledged the debt. Proof of what you delivered. A dated log of every time you asked to be paid.

(2) Check whether you are still in time. In Arizona a debt on a written contract runs six years, A.R.S. section 12-548. An oral agreement or an open account runs three, section 12-543.

(3) Send one written demand. State the facts, name one specific number, give a date, no emotion and no threats. Send it so delivery is proven and keep the receipt.

(4) Check the dollar limit before you pick the court. Arizona small claims is $5,000 or less, A.R.S. section 22-503(A). It was $3,500 until 2025, raised by Senate Bill 1022, 2025 Ariz. Sess. Laws ch. 94. The state's own small claims packets still print $3,500. The handout is not the law.

(5) The whole claim has to fit under the limit. You cannot split one debt into two cases to get under it.

(6) Understand the trade. No attorney can appear, A.R.S. section 22-512(B), unless both sides stipulate in writing, section 22-512(C). The price is that there is no appeal, A.R.S. section 22-519. The decision is final and binding. To keep an appeal alive, ask to transfer to the civil division of justice court before the hearing.

(7) File where they are or where it happened, A.R.S. section 12-401.

(8) Serve them the way the court requires. Certified mail, return receipt, restricted delivery. If anyone other than the named defendant signs, service is no good and you need a licensed process server. A company is served through its statutory agent or an officer. File proof of service within 45 days or the case can be dismissed.

(9) The defendant has 20 calendar days to answer.

TODAY'S PROMPT: COUNTERPUNCH RECORD

Get it at DamonCharlesWilliams.com.

This is Arizona. Every state sets its own dollar limit, its own rule on attorneys, and its own rule on appeals. Look up yours. This episode is information, not legal advice.

A collector is calling about money the business owes. You look up your rights and find the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The five day notice. The thirty day window to dispute. The duty to stop collecting until they verify.

Then you find out none of it applies to you.

The Act defines a debt as an obligation of a consumer from a transaction primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(5). A debt your business owes is commercial. Courts have said so plainly. See American Credit Card Processing Corp. v. Fairchild, 11 Misc. 3d 972 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Suffolk County 2006).

So the leverage is not the statute. It is the contract and the record.

Five things I ask for in writing:

(1) Who owns this debt today, and every assignment from the original creditor.

(2) The original agreement with my signature on it.

(3) A full accounting from the first dollar. Every charge, every payment, every fee.

(4) The date of the last payment, because that is what starts the clock on how long they can sue.

(5) Their legal name, state of registration, and collection license number.

Then two things the federal act does not reach. Whether my own state's collection law covers business debt, because many states go further than the federal law does. And my state's time limit for suing on a written contract.

Today's prompt: Validation Request. Because of 11/30/22 you can get it at DamonCharlesWilliams.com and use it today.

Information only, not legal advice.

A letter from the IRS is not a judgment. It starts a process with steps and dates. Here are the 10 steps, and where to check each one yourself.

(1) Read the notice number and the reply date.

(2) Read the IRS publication the notice points to (Publications 1, 594, 3498 A).

(3) Check the law. Publications are not law. Zimmerman v. Commissioner, 71 T.C. 367, 371 (1978). The law is Title 26 of the U.S. Code and its regulations.

(4) Decide whether to bring in a tax professional (Form 2848; Taxpayer Advocate Service, 26 U.S.C. § 7803(c)).

(5) Agree, partly agree, or disagree, with documents.

(6) Answer in writing by the date on the notice.

(7) Independent Office of Appeals, 26 U.S.C. § 7803(e); Publication 5.

(8) Notice of deficiency: 90 days to petition the U.S. Tax Court, 26 U.S.C. § 6213(a).

(9) Appeal, 26 U.S.C. § 7482.

(10) Determination, 26 U.S.C. § 7481.

Watch for: Form 870 waives your right to go to Tax Court before the tax is assessed. A final notice of intent to levy has its own 30 day appeal on Form 12153.

Today's prompt: Tax Notice Responder. Get it at DamonCharlesWilliams.com.

Verify every deadline on the notice and on irs.gov. Information only, not tax or legal advice.