When rural entrepreneurs prosper, they help their communities prosper. That’s why I support rural entrepreneurs. The best way I can help your community to prosper is to help your entrepreneurs and business owners. They are the ones who will help find solutions to local problems. That’s why I was excited by the CNN story of…
If you loved the Micropolitan Manifesto: How to Radically Revitalize America as much as I did, you’ll want to meet author Katie McCaskey. That’s why I wanted to interview her. Katie and I talked about a lot of small town issues: Moving away and moving home Walkability in small towns Hobby businesses that become more than…
Now that QR codes are appearing in my local small town paper, on bags at the trade show last week, and everywhere else, it’s time to look at what works and what does not work. Because your QR codes are either boosting your engagement with potential customers and visitors, or really ticking them off. Mistake…
Clint Kolby, Project Manager at Brenham (Texas) Economic Development Foundation, (population 16,000) shared this story at the recent LCRA Economic Development Forum where I was a speaker, and I knew you’d want to hear it, too. –Becky Through our Business Retention & Expansion Program (BREP) we were able to identify that the strongest and weakest…
If you love small towns, you want to read Katie McCaskey’s Micropolitan Manifesto. I have an interview with Katie coming up soon, but I couldn’t wait any longer to share the manifesto with you. Get it. Read it. Tell Katie what you think. Note: updated in 2025 to replace dead links to the PDF at…
Audio tours at tourism destinations are nothing new. Museums have been handing out little headsets for years. But all kinds of new technologies are available. Now that every visitor is carrying a cell phone, you might as well make use of it. Here’s an example from Zedler Mill, in Luling, Texas. There is a welcome…
Small town businesses are starved for capital, but small town people continue to bank and invest their money with corporate behemoths based on Wall Street. What if we could change investing from a gamble in the stock market into a local development tool? Local investing is the answer. Local Dollars, Local Sense and Locavestingcomplement each…
Brian Matson, Fargo-Moorhead Convention and Visitors Bureau, shared some excellent tips for video in small town tourism at our Tourism Currents Track at BlogWorld Expo in LA last year. Brian Matson knows great videobecause he does great video. Many destinations create slick, expensive videos to showcase their entire place in 5 to 7 minutes. Each…
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