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Small Biz Survival

The small town and rural business resource
  • Trade show booth design trend: hand drawn visuals
    entrepreneurship | marketing | rural

    Trade show booth design trend: hand drawn visuals

    ByBecky McCray March 21, 2022March 25, 2022

    At the recent National Rural Electric Cooperative Association PowerXchange Expo, I noticed one booth that really stood out. In fact, it was so good, people stopped to take pictures of the booth displays. (When was the last time someone took a picture of your booth display?) What made this booth stand out? Hand drawn visuals….

    Read More Trade show booth design trend: hand drawn visualsContinue

  • A grocery store building entrance with a sign that says "Alva's Market"
    entrepreneurship | marketing | rural | trends

    New business sign design? Don’t use cursive script

    ByBecky McCray February 14, 2022February 14, 2022

    Fewer and fewer kids learn to read and write in cursive, so it’s time to stop ordering business signs with cursive or script lettering. You might have seen the memes and jokes. Someday all us old people will use cursive as secret code. But you might not have thought about how this applies to your…

    Read More New business sign design? Don’t use cursive scriptContinue

  • Near the iconic sandstone towers in Monument Valley, a concession trailer offers food, with a picnic table out front.
    economic development | entrepreneurship | marketing | rural | tourism

    Market your small town as a movie filming location, attract movie and game fan tourists

    ByBecky McCray June 28, 2021June 24, 2021

    Your fellow reader Miriam wrote in to ask about attracting filmmakers to her town. I am designing a website for a small town in Texas that apparently was used as a location for some small films years and years ago. They are designing a new website for the town and thought it might be fun…

    Read More Market your small town as a movie filming location, attract movie and game fan touristsContinue

  • How to remember customer names: write them down
    customer service | marketing | rural | Small Biz 100

    How to remember customer names: write them down

    ByRob Hatch May 28, 2021May 17, 2021

    Guest post by Rob Hatch Chris Brogan recently shared a story of a local bookstore in his hometown. He asked them to order a specific book for him that wasn’t in stock. The owner wrote down his name and phone number and told him she’d order it. The next week, when he walked in the…

    Read More How to remember customer names: write them downContinue

  • customer service | economic development | entrepreneurship | management | marketing | rural | shop local | trends

    Open Up – It’s the Customers

    ByChris Brogan May 19, 2020

    As different places begin to allow local businesses to open up, you’re not alone if you’re breathing a sigh of relief mixed with a gasp of worry. We all need the money. We all want to get back to being useful for the people we serve. And some or most of us are worried about…

    Read More Open Up – It’s the CustomersContinue

  • Two Small Town Guys
    entrepreneurship | marketing | rural | shop local | trends

    Remember when we used to try to hide our accents?

    ByChris Brogan May 7, 2020April 30, 2020

      By Chris Brogan I’m originally from Maine. Accents up there come through the nose. Most famously, people from Maine are supposed to say “Ayuh” when we mean “yes.” Midway through high school, I moved to Massachusetts, where you lose the nasal thing, but you also lose all “r’s” from conversation. “It’s hahd to sound…

    Read More Remember when we used to try to hide our accents?Continue

  • Small Town Business Lights
    entrepreneurship | marketing | rural | social media | tech | tools

    Show and Tell – How Video and Maybe Even LIVE Video Are Important for Small Town Business

    ByChris Brogan April 20, 2020April 12, 2020

    By Chris Brogan They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but sometimes, it might be worth a thousand dollars, too. Over the last ten years, restaurants and bars who post their best dishes or drinks as photos on sites like Instagram have learned that people love seeing examples of what they’ll get if…

    Read More Show and Tell – How Video and Maybe Even LIVE Video Are Important for Small Town BusinessContinue

  • How to get more parking downtown without adding any spaces
    Best of | customer service | economic development | entrepreneurship | marketing | rural | shop local

    How to get more parking downtown without adding any spaces

    ByBecky McCray March 7, 2020March 25, 2023

    There’s not enough parking downtown! Doesn’t every city have that problem? You’re about to learn a new way to get more parking for your Main Street without having to pave, stripe or get a permit. It doesn’t work in every town, but it very well might work in yours. Finding hidden parking There is only…

    Read More How to get more parking downtown without adding any spacesContinue

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