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Small Biz Survival

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

    Holiday retail ideas

    ByBecky McCray October 18, 2010August 27, 2014

    Small town retailers are getting ready for the 2010 holiday season, and we are all wondering, how will it go? I can’t answer that, but I can tell you a few things you can do right now to set yourself up for the best holiday season possible. First, dress up your store for Thanksgiving. Make…

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  • customer service | marketing

    A mechanic story

    ByJNSwanson September 29, 2010August 27, 2014

    Our van broke. More accurately, while taking our daughter to college, our van, loaded with her stuff, began overheating 90 minutes into the two hour drive. After stops for cooling, much fretting, some praying, and smoke coming out of the tailpipe, we got to the college, got her stuff unloaded, and parked it. After catching…

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  • marketing | social media

    Who owns your online real estate

    ByBecky McCray September 28, 2010August 27, 2014

    If you use a Facebook Page as your main business presence, you don’t own it at all. Photo by Paul Swansen If you rely on your Google Places listing to tell people everything they need to know, you don’t own that either. You can only add the information they say you can add. They choose…

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  • economic development | marketing

    Online sharing as economic development tool

    ByBecky McCray September 22, 2010August 27, 2014

    Can you turn people’s tendency to share online content into an economic development strategy? Site visitors are encouraged to select an e-card or video and share it with their professional networks and colleagues to attract new and diversified businesses to locate or expand in Lee County. This press release popped up at the Place Marketing…

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  • marketing | social media | tourism

    Simple trick to measure social media efforts

    ByBecky McCray September 14, 2010August 27, 2014

    How can you tell if your social media efforts are making any difference? Here’s one simple trick that can make it clear. Make a new page. It can be on your main site, or on a completely new domain name. Let’s call it the landing page. This is where your new visitors will land. Put analytics…

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  • marketing | tourism

    Is it already time to forget mobile?

    ByBecky McCray August 31, 2010August 27, 2014

    You know more and more people are using their phone to access the web, and you know that you need to make a mobile friendly site, especially for tourism. But wait, new advice is coming out: can you skip doing a mobile site? “Not that smart” phoneslike mine will be aroundfor several years more At…

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  • marketing

    Turn your marketing from panic to joy

    BySmall Biz Survival August 2, 2010March 12, 2016

    [When small town gal Erin Verbeck of Joy of Marketing reached out to start a conversation with us about small town marketing, I knew we had to find a way to cooperate somehow. We’ve started with this guest post from her partner, Sarah Petty. I’m sure it’s the start of a beautiful friendship. -Becky] By…

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  • Best of | marketing | mistakes | success

    Old Spice vs Fast Company

    ByBecky McCray July 16, 2010August 27, 2014

    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…

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