Cash Mobs are a good tool for small towns. It’s all about getting your people out to support one business in order to get the message across: local businesses matter and you matter to local businesses. But if that’s all there is to it, you miss the chance to build on their success. Laura Meadows,…
1. You are getting reviewed online, right now. Whether you know it or not, people are reviewing your business online. Yes, even your small town business. Especially if you cater to tourists. They might be on Facebook, Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Local, Urban Spoon, other review sites, their own blogs, Twitter, or a bunch of other…
Like many small town business people, I have more than one business: liquor store, cattle ranch, speaking and writing about small town business, and Tourism Currents. So how do I do it all? It‘s one of the most common questions that I get asked, so I’m sharing answers this week. Cory Miller of Entrepreneurship Lab…
When promoting your small town tourism, one essential element is getting your local businesses online where your visitors can find them. But most of your small town businesses either have no website, or a website they don’t maintain, or a website that isn’t mobile-friendly. Rather than fight with all the local businesses about getting and…
“What you say before the event is an explanation, after it’s an excuse.” Guest post by Jurek Leon, Perth, Australia Brisbane dentist Paddi Lund makes this point in his fascinating book Training customers to treasure your business. He has a ‘Welcome Book’ which is given to all new patients before their first appointment. This explains…
Guest post by Cathy Lloyd, The Village In the summer of 2007, I had an idea to help the state of retail on the square in downtown Washington, Iowa. Since Wal-Mart came to town in the ‘70s, there had been a steady decline in the number of retail businesses in the downtown area. I hoped…
Visitors don’t want to LOOK, they want to DO. People are looking for things to do, not just things to look at, tourism expert Roger Brooks said. That’s why it’s so hard to market your history in tourism. You have to find ways to make people involved in the experience of that history. Visit Indiana…
The Best Way to Deal with Email What’s the best way to deal with email? Have it sorted automatically, before you ever see it, into groups based on the frame of mind needed to act on it. Frame of mind might be “reading” for newsletters that are informative, or “read and reply immediately” for work…
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.
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.
We partner with campaigns and organizations that we think best benefit rural small businesses.
Copyright © 2006–2026 Becky McCray • Site by Webdancers