Do you ever look at the news and ask yourself how what you see might impact your business? If you are like me, the chances are you don’t do a great deal of this. Yes, we watch the news and may read the paper, a magazine and maybe a trade journal. Plus, we may spend…
My friend Mark Riffey is from the small town of Columbia Falls, Montana. He normally writes about marketing, and he offers excellent advice. But last week, something different popped up. He wrote to his hometown folks to address the loss of an important local employer. I know many of you can relate to this…
Your customers are your business. Connecting with them means success or failure. How well does your business do in terms of connecting? You won’t find many answers in this column, but you will find lots of questions you need to think about. How do you connect with your customers? I suspect many of you have…
One of the limits we deal with as small town businesses is our suppliers. Rural retail businesses depend on wholesale suppliers for inventory, manufacturers need raw materials and restaurants need food to cook. Then we all have basics, like cash register tape, circuit breakers, and those 8′ long light bulbs you can’t seem to…
Small businesses are the cornerstone of most local economies. This statement is often said and it is worth remembering. Small, locally-owned businesses put about 68 cents of every dollar spent right back into the local system. On average, a chain store keeps about 43 cents in the local economy. And of course money spent outside…
“Becky….we are looking at installing a downtown wifi area. What are your thoughts on that? I think it is awesome but I know I am going to get….’oh, sure…now the development corp is going to supply free wifi to people! They can pay for their own!’” Angie Schmidt Benz Moffit, North Dakota Here are four…
How many hits did you get? Or how many people saw your ad? If you have read many articles on marketing, especially those talking about social media marketing, you may come away with the idea that marketing is a numbers game. The more people who “like” your page or respond to your advertisement, the better…
Starting a business is a risky adventure. One in five will not make it through the first year and less than 40 percent, and some studies show less than 20%, will still be in business five years later. So why do people try? Because being your own boss and running your own business for many…
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