Rural and small town businesses aren’t limited to the downtown mom-and-pop stores or the businesses recruited into the industrial park any more. In fact, rural businesses today don’t really have to look like any of the traditional business models for small towns. The traditional way to go into business in a small town was to…
When Google has you in the wrong place, it matters! Google Maps, Google Local, and mobile Google searches all share the same basic data, so if your address is wrong in one, it’s wrong in all of them. When I view the Google insights for my own business, it reports hundreds of people viewing my…
Seems like there’s been a lot of retirements announced in my small town newspaper lately. There’s usually an ad giving a profile of their career, their smiling photo, and details of the retirement reception. As I read the latest one, I thought it seemed like a shame. Here was the story of a well-qualified person,…
Sometimes, when someone is telling me about their town, they’ll say it. “We have nothing here! Nothing!” It bothers me. Surely you have something to work with? Des Walsh is a friend of mine from Australia who has strong rural ties. He told me about a village that had nothing. “Many years ago I…
Big Ideas for Small Town Business Success I was honored to be a guest on this call with the Orton Family Foundation, and I’m happy to pass along this recording for you to listen in while we talk rural entrepreneurship, filling gaps downtown, and revitalizing your town. From farm-to-table restaurants and food co-ops to craft breweries…
What holds local businesses back from selling online? Local retailers have a lot of natural advantages in selling online. It’s part of being Rural OmniLocal, but several key challenges hold them back. This article is adapted from an interview I did with Bob Dunn. Hear the whole interview or read the transcript at BobWP.com The first…
Service-based businesses are critically important in small towns. But downtown retail businesses get a lot more attention in rural revitalization discussions. Since my background includes a lot of work in rural service businesses, I’ve written about service businesses here at Small Biz Survival. Add that to contributions by our many guest authors, and we’ve built…
Jerry Miles, BookFeller.com, wrote in with a great question about making the most of the customers who visit his retail store. I want to be able to sell online products in my bricks-and-mortar store, whether physical or affiliate. In other words, I’d like to sell items listed on Amazon, eBay, etsy, etc., in my store…
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