Becky McCray. Photo by Colton Foote

Thank you again for letting me share with you a little of what I’ve learned about small town business as a part of the AMIBA conference.

I feel privileged to get to know you a bit, learn what you’re doing that works and share what I learn from you with other rural people.

Two Gifts for You:

1. Retail Tips for Small Town Businesses

To help you survive in today’s tough retail environment, I’ve put together the best retail ideas I’ve heard and ones I’ve used myself. You’ll get ideas for going up against bigger competitors, drawing customers in during the holidays and how to survive in an era of customer showrooming.

You can use this yourself, and you may pass it along to others, too.

Here’s the link to download Retail Tips for Small Town Stores Staying Competitive.

To save it on your computer, right click on the link above. Internet Explorer users, choose Save Target As. For Firefox or Chrome users, choose Save Link As.

2. Finding Time for Social Media

Social media marketing can be a big boost to your efforts, or it can be a huge time suck. In just two pages, I’ll show you how checklists, scheduled times, lists, and some very smart automation can keep you on the “big boost” side, instead of the “time suck” side.

You can use this yourself, but please do NOT pass it along to others. (I normally charge for this one.)

Here’s the link to download Finding Time for Social Media.

To save it on your computer, right click on the link above. Internet Explorer users, choose Save Target As. For Firefox or Chrome users, choose Save Link As.

Enjoy!

Not a gift, but an offer. Need to make your Shop Local campaign better?

You know all about the importance of shop local. But how is your campaign doing? I decided too much of the advice on “shop local” was written like everyone is in a big city. So I wrote a special guide for small towns. And I addressed the big elephant in the small-town room: how your local businesses can drive shoppers away and what to do about it.