If you believe what you read or hear from the media, then all small towns are dying. But that’s not the real story. The real story is much too nuanced for a sound bite or 3 minute story: some small towns are dying, most are surviving, and some are prospering. And any town can choose…
TweetFolkTours all the talk in rural Norfolk County Businesses, organizations learning the power of social media to get the word out Guest Post by Gregg McLachlan Rural earned marketing on steroids. That’s probably the best way to sum up the TweetFolkTours, a new social media initiative now taking rural Norfolk County, Ontario (pop. 60,000), Canada…
7 Biggest Strengths of Local Shops And how you can build on them. Remember the 7 Weaknesses of Local Shops? They were crazy popular because they touched a nerve. I acknowledged that some of our local businesses really need to step up to earn business today. This series is the flip side of that idea….
In the business world, minimizing the competition may seem like a good idea. Yet research and reality have found that competition actually may strengthen a market for the competing business owners. Studies have found that as competing businesses move closer together, both increase their returns. Think about it: Wal-Mart and Target often will be closer…
Chris Gibbons is well-known for pioneering the concept of “Economic Gardening” in the small-town of Littleton, Colorado. (Population about 40,000, and part of the greater Denver metropolitan area.) On a recent webinar presented by the Kansas City Branch of the Federal Reserve, Gibbons explained the basics of economic gardening. Differences between economic gardening and other…
Small rural communities are here to stay! This should not shock anyone. If you read this blog on a regular basis, you have heard the message before. Yet a look at many news sources would suggest that thes message has not yet made it into the main stream. Not a problem. We will just continue…
At the AMIBA national conference, I captured a few of the sessions that I thought you might be interested in. This one is about community bankers and how they get involved in your town. If you haven’t started a relationship with a community bank, now is a great time to get out and meet one….
Two art projects that are kind of cousins caught my attention as tools for small towns. First is from reader Doug Mackenzie. It’s metal sign that, if you stand in the right place and line up the courthouse in the center, it shows the other historic buildings from the town of Marshall, North Carolina. (See the…
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