Last week, two local tours caught my eye. No, not local as in “my town,” local as in “taking your local people to see what’s local.” Hamilton County, Indiana, was taking their tourism staff out for a tour: Some of our staff is touring the county today to get acquainted w/ Hamilton Co.’s history! What…
Two special weeks honoring small business are coming up: Small Business Week and Independents Week. Both are basically U.S. celebrations. Either one could be a good tie-in for your small town business. (If you know of special small business celebrations in other countries, I’d love to hear about them in the comments.) June 17-21, 2013, will be…
The Brag Basket is our tradition of sharing. The basket is always free and open all weekend, this one June 7-9, 2013. Bring your good news and we’ll have a picnic. What good news will you add to the brag basket? Don’t hold back because of that word, “brag.” When you hold back, you hide…
Guest post by Michele Payn-Knoper Sensationalism sells. Civility lacks sex appeal. Besides, do those ‘city folk’ even care about rural businesses? So why even make an effort to build bridges when contentious issues arise? Simple. It’s called interdependence. Let’s look at bridging the gap from an agricultural viewpoint. People require food. Businesses depend on people for…
In January, I spoke in Norfolk County, Ontario. It’s a rural county with several small towns and lots of farms, and a beautiful coastline. They sent me probably the best speaker-preparation packet I’ve ever received. Looking at the Official Map and Local Food Guide, the local recipe booklet, the Ontario’s Garden brochure and much more,…
When I spoke to small business owners in Ponca City recently, one audience member asked about offering coupons and discounts. So we talked about her business (basically, a franchised frozen yogurt parlor), and how they’ve gotten started with coupons and discounts, so now people seem to expect them. I made up these two rules for…
The Brag Basket is our tradition of sharing. The basket is always free and open all weekend, this one May 31 – June 2, 2013. What good news will you add to the brag basket? Don’t hold back because of that word, “brag.” When you hold back, you hide your good news and accomplishments that…
Every Thursday, I publish a special newsletter. It’s a personal conversation with me and over a thousand rural friends that gives you a positive view of rural business and small towns. If you don’t already get it, join us right here: I won’t ever sell or rent your email address to anyone else because I wouldn’t…
Since 2006, this site has been helping people like you in small towns move forward without waiting on outside experts, big budgets, or perfect plans. You don’t need any of that to get started.
If you care about your business, your downtown, or your community, you’ll find ideas here you can actually use. Take one. Try it out. Let me know how it goes for you.
Want to search our past articles? Catch up with the latest stories? Browse through the categories? All the good stuff is on the Front Page.
We partner with campaigns and organizations that we think best benefit rural small businesses.
Copyright © 2006–2026 Becky McCray • Site by Webdancers