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Small Biz Survival

The small town and rural business resource
  • marketing | Small Biz 100 | success

    Marketing Requires Balance

    ByGlenn Muske January 31, 2018January 24, 2018

    As you review articles for help with your small-business marketing, you may notice that many of them focus on a single strategy or method. The reality is that a good marketing plan has balance. Often today the strategy is online marketing or, getting more specific, social media marketing. Video marketing is also quite popular. These…

    Read More Marketing Requires BalanceContinue

  • How independent retailers can trick Alexa, Siri, and Google Home to capture orders from local customers
    Best of | entrepreneurship | marketing | rural | tech | tools

    How independent retailers can trick Alexa, Siri, and Google Home to capture orders from local customers

    ByBecky McCray January 29, 2018December 9, 2018

      People are happily using smart voice assistants more than ever. You know their names: Alexa, Siri, Google, Cortana. It’s so easy (and fun!) to just say what you want, and your magical assistant orders it for you. Then it shows up at your doorstep, and you’re living in the future! This isn’t great for…

    Read More How independent retailers can trick Alexa, Siri, and Google Home to capture orders from local customersContinue

  • Who are the next 5 people who will hire you?
    customer service | entrepreneurship | marketing | rural

    Who are the next 5 people who will hire you?

    ByBecky McCray January 22, 2018January 7, 2018

        I was talking with a friend about finding work as an independent professional. He was talking about finding work speaking for corporate clients, and together we came up with these questions. I think these questions might work for rural professionals like you, too, so I wanted to share them. Who are the next…

    Read More Who are the next 5 people who will hire you?Continue

  • marketing | rural | Small Biz 100

    Marketing is More Than Advertising

    ByGlenn Muske December 20, 2017December 19, 2017

    “I need help in marketing my product. “ That short sentence is the one I hear often as I work with small-business owners. Most often, when asked to clarify what they want, the owner talks about increasing his or her sales. They want to see more goods and services go out the door. While sales…

    Read More Marketing is More Than AdvertisingContinue

  • marketing | rural | Small Biz 100 | success

    Getting Your Marketing Message Seen

    ByGlenn Muske December 13, 2017December 6, 2017

    The numbers are daunting. Every 60 seconds, 347,000 tweets are shared. 510,000 Facebook comments are made. 5,100 Instagram photos are liked. 48 hours of video are uploaded on YouTube. Now add information we get from other online information sources such as email, blogs and websites. Then there is what might be called the traditional sources…

    Read More Getting Your Marketing Message SeenContinue

  • Downtown After 5 idea: Dinner and a Movie
    entrepreneurship | marketing | rural | trends

    Downtown After 5 idea: Dinner and a Movie

    ByBecky McCray November 13, 2017November 5, 2017

      Both times we’ve run the Survey of Rural Challenges, small town business owners have picked the same top challenge: adapting to being open later hours. That means I’m always on the lookout for ideas that work to help bring more people downtown and are also successful at generating business for local stores. Cindy shared…

    Read More Downtown After 5 idea: Dinner and a MovieContinue

  • Free concerts draw big crowds, but no one shops local stores
    Best of | entrepreneurship | marketing | rural

    Free concerts draw big crowds, but no one shops local stores

    ByBecky McCray October 23, 2017December 9, 2018

      Reader Dave Tucci sent in this terrific question that you may identify with: Here in our small town Unionville, Ontario, Canada, (pop 9000) we have a free concert night every Thursday night from 7:30 to 9pm. We have awesome cover bands like Elton Rohn, Hotel California, Absolute Journey and many more. We draw crowds…

    Read More Free concerts draw big crowds, but no one shops local storesContinue

  • What small businesses can do with Facebook Live and other streaming video
    entrepreneurship | marketing | social media | tools

    What small businesses can do with Facebook Live and other streaming video

    ByBecky McCray October 16, 2017October 15, 2017

      Live streaming video provides you new ways to reach customers and promote your small business. Today’s tools include Facebook Live, Instagram and Snapchat Live Stories, Google Hangouts that stream live on YouTube, Periscope video that streams on Twitter, and even stolid old LinkedIn that will let you pipe in live video from your Facebook…

    Read More What small businesses can do with Facebook Live and other streaming videoContinue

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