Knowing each customer as a real person is a strength of the best small town businesses. New tools allow you to keep that kind of small town connection even as your business grows or moves online. How well does the College Street Pubknow these customers? You probably keep an email address list of customers, right?…
[I’m a rural telco cooperative customer, and I know so are many of you. That’s why I’m publishing this guest post on broadband from Shirley Bloomfield, CEO of the National Telecommunications Cooperative Association. –Becky] By Shirley Bloomfield Broadband discussion tableat the Midwest Rural Assembly It’s been called today’s “essential service,” with the transformative power of electricity and…
Victor Vasquez, USDA Deputy Undersecretary for Rural Development, made the keynote presentation at the Midwest Rural Assembly. He started with the story of a road trip with a big city friend. As they reached a particularly empty stretch of land, the friend asked, should we turn back? Turn back? Victor asked, why would we turn…
Our friend Des Walsh from Australia sent me a great email, that I just had to share with all of you. You might not have known but we had a Federal election here on Saturday. The outcome hangs in the balance (although I don’t think there are any hanging chads), with the likelihood of a…
Photography is a crowded profession. And it’s getting squeezed to death by a glut of amateurs. When everyone can afford a “pro” camera, how can a professional photographer make a living? Mike Klemme’s answers hold some lessons for people in all types of professions being squeezed. Mike Klemme is a professional photographer from Enid, Oklahoma…
I don’t often weigh in on big corporate issues, but there are some good lessons from two contrasting recent promotions. Fast Company is a well known forward-thinking business magazine. Conventional wisdom says they should have succeeded in a social campaign. P&G is the corporate behemoth behind the brand Old Spice. They should have had trouble…
Let’s talk about the National Broadband Plan, and its 100 Squared initiative. The goal is to get 100 million households on 100 mpbs by 2020. All well and good. The problem is the remaining 5.5 million households, almost assuredly rural. They are not included in the plan, and there is no “phase 2” or second…
How do you get your name out there and associated with a particular phrase? That was Jill’s question: I was just wondering what I need to do to get my name out there. I’m a seamstress specializing in country/western style wedding attire. I google “Oklahoma seamstress” and no one pops up. How do I get…
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