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October is the new December: Shop early, shop indie local

By Small Biz Survival

Heads up, rural retailers: holiday shopping has already started! Guest post by Jen Risley, AMIBA Why promote Shop Indie Local early this holiday season? Because more of us are shopping early for holiday gifts. From National Retail Federation: Over the last decade, consumers have been kicking off their holiday shopping early in order to spread […]

October 5, 2023 Filed Under: entrepreneurship, marketing, rural, shop local Tagged With: retail, shop indie local, shop local, shop small, small business

Support small business to pull your community together (video)

By Becky McCray

A woman with dark hair and beige skin tone wearing a businesslike jacket is speaking to a packed audience. She's holding a mic and raising one hand in the air. A slide shown on the screen behind her includes a diverse crowd at a golden shovel business event.

A standing-room-only crowd participated with rural speaker Becky McCray sharing ways to tap the popularity of small businesses to Pull Your Town Together: Overcoming Divisiveness at the Main Street Now National Conference by Main Street America in Boston in 2023.     Small businesses are trusted – tap that trust For rural communities with struggling […]

July 19, 2023 Filed Under: economic development, rural, shop local Tagged With: Becky McCray, buy local, cash mobs, presentations, professional speaker, rural speaker, shop local, small town speaker, speeches

Move Your Money and Bank Local

By Becky McCray

Graphic of US currency with the text Move Your Money, bank local, invest local

April is traditionally Move Your Money Month in the shop local community. Bank Local and Invest Local are the financial parts of the shop local movement. In 2023, the timing couldn’t be more noticeable. High profile bank failures, lots of talk about other banks in trouble, and a serious debate about the financial system (AGAIN!) […]

March 22, 2023 Filed Under: economic development, finance, rural, shop local, survivors Tagged With: AMIBA, Bank Local, banking, economic development, local investing, Move Your Money, shop local

How to get customers in the door of small town and rural retail stores

By Becky McCray

A shopkeeper and a customer share a laugh in a small store packed full of interesting home wares.

  If you have a retail store in a small town, you know how difficult it can be to attract customers in the door. With so much online competition and limited resources, it is hard to get people in the store and buying your products. In this article, we’ll share some of our best ways […]

February 19, 2023 Filed Under: Best of, marketing, rural, shop local Tagged With: effective marketing, entrepreneurship, experience economy, retail, shop indie local, shop local, shop small, small business, small business success, store

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