Over at Michele Price’s site, a reader asked:
How would one create a startup community in a more rural area where people don’t really get “the internet” and could care less about Facebook, Twitter, or ANY social networking/digital websites?
Michele invited me to reply, and here’s the advice I offered:
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| Our eclectic Alva meetup group welcomes a couple of out-of-town guests. |
1. Broaden your definition of startups to connect with more locals.
I understand (very well) your point about local people who don’t care about the online world. However, even in my own small town, I can connect with the few others who do care. We have occasional meetups, and our group includes local business owners, a couple of pastors, and others who are interested in online connections, social networking, and the digital world. Once you start building local connections, you might be surprised by who you find.
2. Broaden your definition of local to connect with more startups.
Look to nearby larger towns that may have like-minded startups. See if you can create connections to them. Also, look online. Find a group (or start a group) that meets online. Leave plenty of time for social talk as well as business talk in your online sessions. And find excuses to get everyone together in the same place on occasion.
What would you recommend?
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Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.
I feel that I’m in a similar spot. My plan is to try to start a business/entrepreneurship book group this winter where we’ll meet once a month and discuss a book like Entreleadership, The Thank You Economy, Start with Why or the $100 startup. I’m hoping that the titles of the books will attract like-minded people. My bottom line is that if only 3 people show up, it’s a success.
Jake, I think 3 people is a great group size for discussions like that. And you’ve picked some excellent books! We’d love to hear how it goes.
Becky –
Amazing (but not surprising, given yer track record) how what you say is applicable to areas beyond the focal point of discussion.
Once you apply the principle stated above in #2 (“Look to nearby larger towns that may have like-minded startups. See if you can create connections to them”) the world starts becoming your “small town” – you managed to pack a lot of valuable direction in that #2 section.
Thanks –
Wayne
Thank you, Wayne. You always find ways to make the most of our discussions here.
5 years ago people wanted to know how to use the Internet, now people are asking how they can possibly market without it! Rural areas tend to naturally have a community feel going on so spreading word of mouth and awareness should be easy using the old classics; leaflets, posters, word of mouth, local newspapers; all the things businesses used before social networking, if you provide a needed and quality service word will quickly get around.
Steve, I agree with you that rural areas do tend to have a community feeling, compared to urban areas. While the “classic” promotion methods do still have some relevance, online tools are also important. In my town of under 5,000, I see effective business promotion being done online today.
In my small town journey to form social groups, it appears to me that things evolve for folks from personal networks onto the web at different paces. With a blog I have, it was slow to get folks to subscribe and form connections. Several of us started a business network group this year and are watching the transition as this group begins to meet and the social networking begins to take form. We initially pushed the online, but the group did not want it. I appears to me that social networks become a natural extension of the community started in person. In watching our town and few others nearby form similar networks, I have seen things evolve where communities start forming, emails start coming individually until there is a natural point where an on-line community makes sense and things evolve to a Facebook group or a Linked-In Forum or beyond. . .Within my blog community , the site did not really work for others to connect but several connections took place as I introduced readers . . .My point is, if you start with the idea that the “online social community is the goal” , then it may miss the signals that the community itself will evolve to what makes sense for them and in their own timing.
Michael, that is very valuable experience. Thanks for sharing it.
Start small, think big. And not “well we’ve always done it this way”. Change is hard, reinventing and creative spark is contagious. Passion is what fuels the pride, love for a small town. Getting folks on the same page is hard and proactive, not reactive has to happen. All the time.
Andrew, you’ve packed a lot into that comment, and it’s spot on. Despite the difficulty, it’s worth it.