The Small Business Influencer Awards honor those who are influential to small businesses in North America, through the products, services, knowledge, information or support they provide to the small business market. The Awards are designed to recognize the unsung heroes of small businesses – those who support and encourage entrepreneurs and small business owners, and…
Since our book Small Town Rules was released by Que Publishing this spring, Barry Moltz and I have been sharing lots of videos, interviews, and guest posts all over the web on the ideas in it. Because I’m so close to this subject, I forget that you haven’t seen much of it here. I finally realized…
Gmail users, head to this article: Using Gmail’s Tabbed Inbox wisely. Outlook users and others, read on… I manage email a bit differently than many people. I keep my inbox clear, and most of my email automatically sorts itself into easy-to-process groups. That means I spend less time on email every single day. How filters…
Every business, no matter how small your town is, has to compete with someone. What advantage will you play up to your customers? Red’s, a barbecue place in my hometown, is promoting its location. See, 14 miles away in another tiny town is a terrific barbecue place. So Red’s is basically saying, “don’t make the…
A person emailed me about small town retail development a while back. I recommended he talk to Mandy Vavrinak and listed her email address. He emailed back, asking for more information about her. I thought to myself, “What more could he need?” That’s me with Mandy Vavrinak,At the 2011 Social Media Tulsa Conference. If he’d…
If you’re running a Shop Local or Buy Local campaign in your small town, you should get your hands on a new resource from AMIBA. AMIBA is the American Independent Business Alliance. They’ve partnered with American Express OPEN to print up a 12-page color magazine. It includes “a thorough introduction” to organizing an effective campaign,…
In a small town, you might think everyone already knows about your business or your well-known tourism attraction. You might think you don’t need a website at all, or that it doesn’t matter if you don’t have a mobile-friendly website. You’d be wrong. You have new residents, people who have never needed your service before,…
When small town entrepreneurs prosper, they help their community prosper. It’s one of my core beliefs, and it’s supported by some scholarly research. Charles M. Tolbert, Baylor University, looked at the effects of small business on their local community. His research shows that more locally-oriented business establishments are associated statistically with: higher average income levels less…
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