• Survey of Rural Challenges
  • Small Town Speaker Becky McCray
  • Shop Local video
  • SaveYour.Town

Small Biz Survival

The small town and rural business resource

A row of small town shops
  • Front Page
  • Latest stories
  • About
  • Guided Tour
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • RSS

Get more customers without advertising: Show up where they can find you

By Chris Brogan

How the Roofer Nailed Marketing

Two diverse workers installing new shingles on a roof. One worker in a red shirt cuts a shingle. A woman uses a push hoe to remove nails and debris.

Photo by Becky McCray.

Guest Post by Chris Brogan

Let me tell you about an experience I had in a little diner in Lewiston, Maine.

I sat at the counter of a busy Maine diner slinging breakfast to a crowd of mostly locals, it seemed. One guy a few seats away from me did roof work. I know this because over the course of my meal, maybe eight different people interrupted him to ask him to check out a job they had in mind for him.

I couldn’t ignore any of this, so I asked, “I don’t want to interrupt, but you sure are getting a lot of business just sitting here at the counter. You don’t advertise or anything, do you?”

“Nope,” he said, pushing some eggs into his mouth and chewing for a little. “I come here for breakfast and lunch every single day they’re open. And every day, someone asks me if I can look at a job. Easy as that.”

  • About the Author
  • Latest by this Author
Chris Brogan

Chris Brogan is President of Chris Brogan Media and founder of the StoryLeader™ system. He is a business advisor helping with digital marketing and sales strategies, and the New York Times bestselling author of 9 books and counting. Learn more at chrisbrogan.com

chrisbrogan.com
  • Get more customers without advertising: Show up where they can find you
  • Why "Small Town" Might Become the Sexiest Brand In the World
  • Masks are the new "no smoking" for small businesses

January 13, 2026 Filed Under: entrepreneurship, marketing, rural, Small Biz 100 Tagged With: Chris Brogan, guest post, marketing small business, service businesses

Wondering what is and is not allowed in the comments?
Or how to get a nifty photo beside your name?
Check our commenting policy.
Use your real name, not a business name.


Don't see the comment form?
Comments are automatically closed on older posts, but you can send me your comment via this contact form and I'll add it manually for you. Thanks!

Howdy!

Glad you dropped in to the rural and small town business blog, established in 2006.

We want you to feel at home, so please take our guided tour.

Meet our authors on the About page.

Have something to say? You can give us a holler on the contact form.

If you would like permission to re-use an article you've read here, please make a Reprint Request.

Want to search our past articles? Catch up with the latest stories? Browse through the categories? All the good stuff is on the Front Page.

Partners

We partner with campaigns and organizations that we think best benefit rural small businesses. Logo with "Shop Indie Local" Move Your Money, bank local, invest local Multicolor logo with text that says "Global Entrepreneurship Week" Save Your Town logotype

Best of Small Biz Survival

A few people shopping in an attractive retail store in refurbished downtown building.

TREND 2025: Retail’s Big Split: what small town retailers can do now

99% of the best things you can do for your town don’t require anyone’s permission

Three kids in a canoe

Get started as an outdoor outfitter without breaking the bank

A shopkeeper and a customer share a laugh in a small store packed full of interesting home wares.

How to get customers in the door of small town and rural retail stores

Rural Tourism Trend: electric vehicle chargers can drive visitors

Wide view of a prairie landscape with a walk-through gate in a fence

Tourism: Make the most of scant remains and “not much to see” sites with a look-through sign

More of the best of Small Biz Survival

Copyright © 2026 Becky McCray
Front Page · Log in