I walked into a local retail shop in Alva, Oklahoma, population 4,000. It’s called Bates & Co., and they are best known for their handcrafted hairbows for infants and kids. But when I walked into their store, they had all kinds of things under one roof: women’s clothes, fashion jewelry, travel accessories and more. It […]
Twenty Years of Small Biz Survival
Twenty years ago today, I hit “publish” on the first post here at SmallBizSurvival.com. I was sitting in the backroom of my liquor store in Alva, Oklahoma, population at the time of just under 5,000 and dropping. That very first post asked: ‘Can you build a growing small business in a declining small town?’ I’ve […]
Get more customers without advertising: Show up where they can find you
How the Roofer Nailed Marketing Guest Post by Chris Brogan Let me tell you about an experience I had in a little diner in Lewiston, Maine. I sat at the counter of a busy Maine diner slinging breakfast to a crowd of mostly locals, it seemed. One guy a few seats away from me did […]
Local Products Make the Best Swag
Jim Katzman wrote a great article on Medium about creating swag that customers actually want. One of his tips was “Leverage Local Pride.” That got me thinking: Local products would make the best swag. Local products are easier Instead of designing a batch of custom pens or ordering another lot of logo coffee mugs, walk […]
