Audio tours at tourism destinations are nothing new. Museums have been handing out little headsets for years. But all kinds of new technologies are available. Now that every visitor is carrying a cell phone, you might as well make use of it. Here’s an example from Zedler Mill, in Luling, Texas. There is a welcome…
Small town businesses are starved for capital, but small town people continue to bank and invest their money with corporate behemoths based on Wall Street. What if we could change investing from a gamble in the stock market into a local development tool? Local investing is the answer. Local Dollars, Local Sense and Locavestingcomplement each…
The Brag Basket is our tradition of sharing. Since I was late getting it open, I’m blaming the puzzling basket in our basket photo this week. :) How do you get into this basket??Photo by fdecomite on Flickr The basket is always free and open all weekend, this one March 2-4, 2012. Have some good…
Brian Matson, Fargo-Moorhead Convention and Visitors Bureau, shared some excellent tips for video in small town tourism at our Tourism Currents Track at BlogWorld Expo in LA last year. Brian Matson knows great videobecause he does great video. Many destinations create slick, expensive videos to showcase their entire place in 5 to 7 minutes. Each…
Many small businesses can’t qualify for a small business loan from a traditional local bank. A bad credit record disqualifies many. Lending standards have tightened. Some small towns are limited by local banks that don’t support small business; others don’t have locally-owned banks any more. The good news is that alternatives are available. We’ll be…
Tourism is economic development, and it influences all your recruiting efforts. “If people think it’s a nice place to visit, they think it’s a nice place to live.” –Cynthia Reid Cynthia Reid said this while talking about recruiting businesses. Every effort you make to improve the visit-ability of your town also enhances your economic development. …
The trend of “reshoring” manufacturing showed up in my back yard last week, with a story in the Alva Review-Courier about local business Vantage Plane Plastics. Vantage Plane Plastics in my hometown,Alva, Oklahoma, is competing with Chinafor manufacturing jobs. Another Oklahoma manufacturer had planned to outsource their product to China, when a sudden increase in shipping costs…
The Brag Basket is our tradition of sharing. And I’m feeling a little crazy this week, so if you’ve lost your marbles, too, join us! We got the marbles you lost right here!Photo by kool skat kat The basket is always free and open all weekend, this one Feb 17-19, 2012. Have some good news…
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