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Small Biz Survival

The small town and rural business resource
  • entrepreneurship | marketing | shop local

    Shop Local idea for small business

    ByBecky McCray May 22, 2010August 27, 2014

    A local merchant had a radio ad where at the end… they mentioned their local competition and asked us to keep $$ local. Very cool. @codyks on Twitter Now that is a commitment to shop local. Also particularly good for small towns. If you’re promoting shop local in your town, take a look at our…

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  • community | economic development | rural | shop local | trends

    Beyond shop local is bank local

    ByBecky McCray January 14, 2010August 27, 2014

    Shop local is a popular topic here, but this week I’ve watched a new trend pop up: bank local.Move Your Money is encouraging people to shift their money to locally owned banks. The site includes bank rankings by Institutional Risk Analytics. All of my local banks scored B+ or higher. The project was dreamed up…

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  • economic development | shop local

    Two new shop local ideas

    ByBecky McCray December 9, 2009August 27, 2014

    Two new shop local ideas hit me this week. 1. Can you get your city utility on board? The City of Alva added this shop local message to their utility bills: Support your local merchants – Shop Alva for the Holidays Some cities and towns mail out larger bills in envelopes. They might even let…

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  • customer service | economic development | entrepreneurship | shop local

    Shopping local as a partnership

    ByBecky McCray July 1, 2009August 27, 2014

    Lois Loucks, Director of the Tri-Cities Economic Development (Wheaton-Onaga-Havensville, KS), shared some of her innovative thoughts with me in an email about shopping local. “Shopping Local” as a two way street, with responsibility placed on the business owners to earn “their share of business”. Just because someone decides to be in business, does not automatically…

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  • announcement | community | economic development | shop local

    Shop Local Campaigns for Small Towns ebook

    ByBecky McCray May 25, 2009August 27, 2014

    Shop local and buy local campaigns can significantly impact your hometown economy, but the instructions available online assume you are a big city. That’s why I decided to create a step by step guide to starting a shop local campaign in a small town, as a downloadable e-book. It includes solid research that shows whether…

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  • community | marketing | rural | shop local

    New ideas for your shop local campaign

    ByBecky McCray August 27, 2008August 27, 2014

    Our friend Rob Hatch sent me a link to Do the math with your gas, about keeping your gas cost down by shopping locally. It immediately made me think of your small town, shop local campaign. This is a great new reason to mention when promoting the benefits of shopping locally. You do have a…

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  • community | economic development | rural | shop local

    Local stores worth 3 times more than chains

    ByBecky McCray May 22, 2008August 27, 2014

    Need ammo for your shop local campaign? Use this fact: local merchants are worth three times as much to your local economy as the chain stores. From Civic Economics: The analysis demonstrated that locally owned merchants generate more than three times the local economic activity of their competitor chain stores on equal revenue. Found in…

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  • community | economic development | shop local

    Top Ten Reasons to Shop Local

    ByBecky McCray January 30, 2008August 27, 2014

    Karen Payne, yet another Okie, sent me this list. Though I couldn’t find an author or attribution, I want to share it with you. You can share it with your local community. Top Ten Reasons to Shop Local 10. Local stores are more likely to carry locally produced foods which supports local agriculture. 9. Local…

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