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Twenty Years of Small Biz Survival

By Becky McCray

Screenshot of the first post at this blog, Small Biz Survival

Twenty years ago today, I hit “publish” on the first post here at SmallBizSurvival.com. I was sitting in the backroom of my liquor store in Alva, Oklahoma, population at the time of just under 5,000 and dropping. That very first post asked: ‘Can you build a growing small business in a declining small town?’ I’ve […]

January 14, 2026 Filed Under: announcement, brag basket, rural, tech Tagged With: anniversary, blogging, rural

Show and Tell – How Video and Maybe Even LIVE Video Are Important for Small Town Business

By Chris Brogan

Small Town Business Lights

By Chris Brogan They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but sometimes, it might be worth a thousand dollars, too. Over the last ten years, restaurants and bars who post their best dishes or drinks as photos on sites like Instagram have learned that people love seeing examples of what they’ll get if […]

April 20, 2020 Filed Under: entrepreneurship, marketing, rural, social media, tech, tools Tagged With: Chris Brogan, effective marketing, entrepreneurship, guest post, rural, service businesses, small business, small business success, video, video tips

Exact Yeti Blue mic volume and Windows settings to reduce background noise

By Becky McCray

Blue Yeti Microphone

The drawback to Yeti Blue USB Microphones for podcasting Yeti Blue microphones are widely popular for podcasting and home sound recording. They do have a big drawback of being overly sensitive. They pick up too much background noise even when the gain is turned way down. I know because I bought one for my own […]

February 17, 2020 Filed Under: mistakes, tech, tools Tagged With: audio, Blue, microphone, mistakes, podcasting, quality, recording, settings, sound, streaming, video, Windows, Yeti

Youth business idea: phone clinics

By Becky McCray

Young man helps abuela with a cell phone

  Looking for the perfect instant summer business idea for young entrepreneurs? Try phone clinics. I saw this idea pop-up in a meeting that involved a cross section of the town of Cathlamet, Washington. People of all ages were there: students from the high school, county commissioners, chamber of commerce members. One of the adults […]

July 8, 2019 Filed Under: community, economic development, entrepreneurship, ideas, rural, tech, youth Tagged With: business ideas, senior adults, senior citizens, seniors, startup, summer businesses, summer jobs, tech support, technology, youth entrepreneurship

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