Here’s an idea from Milwaukee that any small town or rural region could copy: Downtown Dining Week. Downtown restaurants are offering a special rate, lunch for $10, and dinner for $20 or $30. That keeps it simple. My town of about 5,000 people has a downtown sandwich shop, a lunch counter at the drug store, and…
We walk and drive by small businesses every day. We go in their doors, make purchases and continue on our way without another thought. We depend on small businesses. They fill our need for products and services, and we expect them to be open on a regular basis to meet our needs (and sometimes we…
The Brag Basket is our tradition of sharing. The basket is always free and open all weekend, this one June 14-16, 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 might inspire others….
Two free tax webinars from the IRS may help you take what you know about your business and avoid mistakes. Are you taking all the deductions you’re entitled to? Do you know what business tax credits you can take? Topic: Small Business Owners: Get All the Tax Benefits You Deserve Date: Tuesday, June 18, 2013 Time: 11:00 a.m. (Pacific); Noon (Mountain); 1:00…
This first appeared in our weekly email newsletter, A Positive View of Rural. Even though I love local business, I’m about ready to ban “shop local.” Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? I mean, I’m something of a shop local champion. So why am I ready to get rid of “shop local”? Because I’m afraid it has…
More examples of what we call “local pride” merchandise. It’s all part of Rule 7: Be Local. This one is T shirts with your home state, from The Home T. Not as localized as, say Neighborhoodies, which localized down to the block for New Yorkers. And here’s an Etsy shop with Local Pride necklaces,…
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…
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