Jen Risley spoke on a panel with me at the American Independent Business Alliance Conference, and I want to share one or two smart tricks she uses. Jen represents Monadnock Buy Local, covering 35 small towns in the Monadnock Region of southwestern New Hampshire. Her members are all local businesses. She’s a one-person staff so she…
We have been celebrating Small Business Week in the U.S this week. It is a time to recognize what small businesses mean for us and for our communities. In small towns, they form the mainstay of where we shop and eat. Our everyday lives depend on them. Yet, we often don’t think of what these…
In response to “Want to develop your small town? Start with your assets, Luther Snow says,” two of you asked for more information about facilitating business-to-business marketplaces. Simone Cahoj said in a comment: I’d love some more ideas about facilitating a business-to-business marketplace. We have tried this but I think we need a different approach! :)…
The “shop local, shop independent” message is starting to get through. More shoppers say they prefer small local stores over big boxes, according to the Deluxe Annual Holiday Shopping Survey. What can a small town do to keep the momentum alive through the last of the holiday shopping season? Join with other small towns and…
For the first time, Shop Small Saturday is promoting local small businesses in the UK on December 7, 2013. The dedicated UK Small Business Saturday website offers an easy and quick download of digital marketing tools, like posters, logos, and suggested social media posts. There’s also a kit of printed posters, stands and badges you…
MP3 download: Deb Brown interview part 1 Small towns have a future. Despite all the negative press, I have a positive view of rural, and I talk to others who share it. Small towns play a key role in our world. Everyone else better get used to us, because we aren’t going away! Deb…
Almost every time I talk about Shop Local campaigns, someone will mention that they can’t do one because it will offend their tourists and visitors. I think your visitors are more savvy than you give them credit for. Let’s start with travel writer Sheila Scarborough. She and I do some work together at Tourism Currents….
The 7 Most Common Weaknesses of Local Shops And what we’re all going to do about them. As we head into the busy holiday shopping season, we’ll see lots of Shop Local messages working to get customers to think about shifting their shopping more to local stores. I want to add another layer, and get…
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