Each Friday, I open the Brag Basket as a fun place to give someone a pat on the back, brag, or promote yourself and your projects. The Brag Basket is open for everyone, whether from a small town, a big city, or anywhere in the world. Last week, Kim of GoWithABC announced her new position,…
Doing business in a small town or rural area does have some differences from traditional business thinking. Aliza Sherman, famous entrepreneur and writer, asked me to do a joint post with her with tips for “really rural” businesses. Aliza currently does business in Alaska and is moving to a town of under 2000. She shares…
Back in January of 2006, I reminded you of the old bumper sticker joke: “Just one more oil boom, Lord. I promise I won’t piss this one away.” My question then was what will you do with this oil boom? We’re nearly three years further into this boom since I asked. Let me remind…
You are most valuable, not at the far edges of your skills, but at the intersections of your knowledge areas. For example, if you know travel and cooking, you are more valuable leading exclusive cultural trips featuring local cuisine, than simply leading “normal” trips. If you know both motorsports journalism (an intersection of its own)…
Common mistakes can kill your small business, but most of them can be easily corrected or avoided. Today’s bad example: mis-using your service providers. Dear Client: Saying, “I don’t like this,” is not feedback. Tell me WHY you don’t like it. I am a writer, not a mind reader. Love, Kristen –@KristenKing, via Twitter If…
The Two Week Perspective is a different way to view your schedule. I use Google Calendar. I like the weekly view, but when you’re on Thursday or Friday, mostly you see the past. So I changed to a Two Week view, and made that the default. Now I see more of what’s coming up. I’ve…
Watching a documentary on the Dust Bowl tonight reminded me that it was also an economic boom that went bust. Can we learn anything? How does the current situation compare? One of the pioneer women of the Oklahoma Panhandle dust bowl.By Arthur Rothstein, April 1938. First, a bit of history. Wheat prices ran up in…
Most small towns missed out on the recent run up in the USA national economy. And when we were struck with repeated crop failures and a horrendous local economy, the rest of the nation certainly didn’t notice. So, how is the national financial crisis affecting small towns? Well, it’s a mixed bag. And it’s still…
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