Our friend Bruce Christensen, CEO of PartyWeDo, sent me this idea. It’s from a yarn store in Florida, but anyone could use it. Basically, the store allows customers to bring in yarn, or any fiber related gift, all wrapped up like a present. Then at a designated time, they play white elephant exchange. Read the…
Some really smart people have shared some powerful small business secrets here lately. I wanted to make sure you didn’t miss any of the good stuff. J.C. Hutchins and Zero Budget promotion interview with J.C. Hutchins Tap into Rural Tourism and Retail Opportunities guest post by Jennifer Brooks 4 tips for going into business from…
Joel Wiggins, Enterprise Center of Johnson County, shares some promising ideas for high tech businesses and ag based businesses that give an advantage to rural areas. Click here to view the embedded video. Interviewed by Becky McCray at NASVF – the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds, Oklahoma City, September 2009 New to SmallBizSurvival.com?…
I’ve been away at the London #140conf, but I’m back and it’s time for Brag Basket! Every week, I open a Brag Basket, so you can introduce yourself or share some good news. So speak up and add yourself or another deserving soul in the comments. We all cheer, and everyone feels great. It lets…
Our friends Pam and Michelle (and crew) at BatchBlue have launched BatchBook for Sales. BatchBook is a CRM (customer relationship manager) for small business. Think of it as a super-hero address book. Here’s an overview of the new sales features. It now has Deals, a Calendar, and more user restrictions, so you have more ways…
At BlogWorld Expo, I finally got to meet two of Sheila Scarborough‘s travel connections, Doug at Authentic Seacoast (@AuthenticCoast) and Shannon Lane (@Cajun_Mama). We had a great discussion about what makes tourism tweets interesting. Doug said a regional tourism group had an intern handling their Twitter account. He would tweet things like, “I’m going to…
Blogging is a terrific tool for small businesses, but the work of blogging eventually can get you into a rut. That’s why so many blogs stagnate and even die after a while. Long-time friend Chris Brogan asked a pointed question about this, on Twitter. Is your blog phoning it in? Are you tagging along in…
Greg Corombos and John Duoba from the Business Owner’s Toolkit Radio interviewed me for their radio show. We covered a lot of ground, including: What’s different in rural business, and what can all businesses learn? Do shop local campaigns work? How do you start one? What are some keys to success in small retail stores?…
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