We’re all using the same marketing theme this year: Shop Indie Local. When we work together to spread the word, we’ll multiply how many customers we reach. Learn more from AMIBA, the Shop Indie Local lead sponsor. Black Friday is overdone. Online giants started promoting their Black Friday deals like a month ago. We’re over it. […]
What challenges do you face in your community and business? Tell us here
Over 1400 people have shared their rural challenges with us since 2015. With all the change we’ve been through, have your priorities changed? We’d like your help to get an updated view of the challenges to your community and your business, and what’s working well or not so much. The survey is open to rural people […]
Holiday 2022 Marketing: Spotlight on Community
We’re all using the same marketing theme this year: Shop Indie Local. When we work together to spread the word, we’ll multiply how many customers we reach. Learn more from AMIBA, the Shop Indie Local lead sponsor. Today, the focus is on your community. Our ultimate goal is to build a stronger community for all your […]
Holiday 2022 marketing: Spotlight a local business
We’re all using the same marketing theme this year: Shop Indie Local. When we work together to spread the word, we’ll multiply how many customers we reach. Learn more from AMIBA, the Shop Indie Local lead sponsor. Spotlight a local business Today, we’re going to shine a spotlight on another local business near you. You […]
Picking your Holiday 2022 marketing theme
We’re all going to use the same marketing theme this year. You, me, and every business in your town. We’re all going to use Shop Indie Local. Here are 5 reasons why. There’s a tendency among small businesses in small towns to use the same marketing theme from year to year, the same ads with […]
Shared retail spaces and sheds: smart business ideas in small towns
Small retail spaces like retail collectives and shed markets generate prosperity for rural areas and small towns when they: give small business ideas an affordable foothold create experiences that draw customers in build on the element of discovery for customers test promising retail concepts shelter businesses too small to survive on their own fill gaps […]
Tourism: Make the most of scant remains and “not much to see” sites with a look-through sign
Here’s a tourism tip from a roadside stop from my long drive to visit rural communities in Eastern Colorado. The Santa Fe Trail wagon ruts are still visible near Lakin in Western Kansas. You can walk across the little dam, past the tree and right out to the original trail, but there isn’t a lot […]
Seasonal business: How to beat the annual “no bookings!” panic
Do you tend to panic about a lack of business at a certain point during the year? Do you always feel like you’ll never get enough bookings for the fall? I know several independent professionals who feel like this: a professional photographer who always worries in late summer that there won’t be enough bookings for […]
Recession? Practical steps from 3 international peers
I have a monthly call with 2 international business friends where we share our work and mentor each other. Last week, one of them asked how we felt and what we planned for possible recession. Decide for Impact coach Erno Hannink studies the stoic philosophy and says not to worry about this kind of issue. Focus […]
Reaching “at risk” kids for local jobs
Workforce is a challenge for 2/3rds of rural small businesses. Source: Survey of Rural Challenges, 2021 One under-utilized source of workers: At-risk students Tony Guidroz, from San Saba, Texas, told me he was shocked when he found out there were 702 kids in the local school district, and more than 400 were considered “at-risk” either […]
