In their new book Small Town Rules, Barry Moltz and Becky McCray show how the business world is like a global small town, and how even the largest companies must compete for customers as if they were small, local businesses. They reveal the seven “rural-style” solutions that have become invaluable to even the largest companies, most dominant…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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