Reader Dan Johnson, from the Main Street Mall and Perkins Pizza Factory in Perkins, Oklahoma, asked about getting noticed when you’re in the middle of the block. With a row of brick storefronts, it can be tough to stand out! When you’re one business on a long block,how can you stand out?This block is in Traverse City,…
Following up on what CASUDI wrote yesterday about the “Take It or Leave It” section in her local recycling facility, that’s a pretty darn good business idea, too. Hey, if people will bid on stuff for silent auctions,maybe they would buy it from a recycling business. Imagine all those garage sale leftovers, estate items that…
Guest Post by Caroline DiDiego, aka @CASUDI Imagine you are a small local environmental business, open 3 days a week, with a couple of employees and several volunteers, required by a local county agency to spend $50,000 for a toilet (sewer hookup), a toilet to be used only very occasionally. Regulations also preclude a Johnny-on-the-spot (obvious…
Photos are terrific at attracting visitors to your story and your place. I promise you that there are not enough photos of your place online. Over at Tourism Currents, Leslie McLellan explained the need for pictures, pictures and more pictures: “With Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Foodspotting and all the other sites that emphasize social photography, it…
I’ve restarted my weekly email newsletter, and I thought you might want to join in. It comes out on Thursdays, different from the articles we post here. It’s a positive view of our rural future, and more about connecting us. Here’s a taste of what went out last week: I had one of those “I’ve…
How you spend your time tells everyone what is important to you. When you are your own boss, and maybe even the only one in the company, no one tells you when to or how to focus on the most important things. Focus is a do-it-yourself project. You need some “locked door,no interruption” time to…
Saw this in Norfolk County in Ontario last week, and thought you could use it, too. It’s a series of profiles of local farmers and food producers. They worked with local talent to get terrific photos and words. They also have a dedicated site for it, at NorfolkFarms.com. Once you create quality content one time, you…
As business owners, we’re bombed by marketing advice. Friends are eager to tell us what we “should” be doing. Articles are full of marketing advice we are “supposed” to follow. We know we have to do what “everyone else” is doing. So we set up blogs, but don’t post on them. We create social media…
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