Fewer and fewer kids learn to read and write in cursive, so it’s time to stop ordering business signs with cursive or script lettering. You might have seen the memes and jokes. Someday all us old people will use cursive as secret code. But you might not have thought about how this applies to your […]
Way more people prefer rural than urban, new Pew Research study finds
Pew Research released a major rural vs urban study, and the headlines missed the best bits. Pew Research’s new social trends study has shown up in a lot of news stories with widely varying headlines. Pew themselves titled it “Americans Are Less Likely Than Before COVID-19 To Want To Live in Cities, More Likely To […]
What to do with a building that’s falling down: The roofless Royal Theater in Archer City, Texas
A building that is falling down or where the roof has fallen in can still be useful. One example is the Royal Theater, in Archer City, Texas. The Royal Theater was featured in the movie “The Last Picture Show,” and production crews did the work to shore up the facade. The space behind has a […]
Experts say about Small Town Rules
Just bought Small Town Rules! God, I’ve been ANXIOUS for this book. Don’t buy it because I love Becky McCray and am friends with Barry Moltz. Don’t buy it because I said it’s a great book. Buy it because it will change your business. Chris Brogan NY Times Bestselling Author of Trust Agents Since Small Town Rules was […]
Top 5 Rural and small town trends 2022
Who knows what trends will affect small and rural communities in 2022 and beyond? Not many trends pieces cover rural places. These trends are specifically about rural and small towns. I’ve been following rural trends and writing about them since 2009. My trends reports have been commissioned or quoted by Main Street America, Emergent Research, the […]
How to start a real small small business
Your fellow reader Ava asked a great question: If I am already working, in school, and wanting to start up just a real small small business, then how would that work differently from someone who is coming from a completely different stand point, like not working or in school and is just generally starting […]
Tip for better pop-ups and shed businesses
Basics What is a pop-up? I explain more here. Tip #1: Group your pop-ups When you’re planning to add pop-up businesses or shed businesses to your small or rural community, concentrate them in one area. Better to have four sheds or pop up businesses together on a single lot, than fourteen vendors spread out all […]
Small town business idea: cat grooming
This was a new idea to me. Alyssa McCleery from Newkirk, Oklahoma, brought this up. She has local dog grooming but had to drive hours to find a place to get her cat groomed. I was skeptical at first, but why not cat grooming as a service? Just trimming cat claws can be a challenge. […]
Boost your rural retail business with this trick
By Deb Brown The old way of doing business is one building, one business. What if you could test an idea and have a business inside a business? Anyone of us either knows or can find someone who is making things from their home and selling it. What if you encouraged already existing home-based businesses […]
The Role of Public Policy in Rural Community Economic Development
By Paula Jensen My husband is a mechanic. The tools of his trade are important to his work. He has a large toolbox with many drawers lined in soft black padding. His tools lay clean and organized inside each drawer for easy access when he needs the right tool for a job. Yet, when things […]
