April is traditionally Move Your Money Month in the shop local community. Bank Local and Invest Local are the financial parts of the shop local movement. In 2023, the timing couldn’t be more noticeable. High profile bank failures, lots of talk about other banks in trouble, and a serious debate about the financial system (AGAIN!) […]
Using a building as a warehouse or storage in a small town? Put up a sign
Repurposing empty buildings as business storage or a warehouse is a common small business practice in small towns. Putting up a sign is a good idea for at least two reasons. Retail businesses may be storing extra merchandise. Manufacturers might have extra materials or finished product ready to ship. Service and repair companies have to […]
How to get customers in the door of small town and rural retail stores
If you have a retail store in a small town, you know how difficult it can be to attract customers in the door. With so much online competition and limited resources, it is hard to get people in the store and buying your products. In this article, we’ll share some of our best ways […]
Check your small business website for outdated pandemic changes, missing info
My friend Rob just told me he was checking out a local fitness place. He was interested until he saw their website included some pandemic-related changes that probably aren’t still true, like canceled classes and limited hours. Since he doesn’t know for sure, he moved on to looking into a different place. This is a […]
Rural Tourism Trend: electric vehicle chargers can drive visitors
Electric vehicle chargers are a perfect place for tourism wayfinding signs. EV charging stations are popping up in lots of rural places, especially along interstate highways and along the coasts in the US. They’ve become relatively common at some motels as well. Chargers are also popping up globally in rural places. Deb Brown reported seeing […]
2023 trends for rural and small town businesses
Finding rural trends buried in big reports Business Insider rounded up the trends reports from LinkedIn, Pinterest and other social-driven sites. They didn’t dig out the best trends for rural businesses and small town entrepreneurs, so I did that for you. Retail is recycling Pinterest points to vintage and mixed decor trends. That’s a good […]
Local reviews on Google Maps drive enduring value
While they were pointing out HipCamp to us, our friends at Marketing Delmarva also brought up the enduring power of Google Local reviews and photos. (I added the bold for emphasis.) If you love a local place, put it on Google. Following our first pick-your-own experience at said blueberry world, while sitting in the car in […]
Extra agritourism revenue from camping, cabins and RVs with HipCamp
After we discussed Harvest Hosts and Boondockers Welcome, our friends at Marketing Delmarva pointed out HipCamp. One of our local blueberry farms does this with an app called HipCamp. Folks literally camp in the middle of a historic fruit farming operation. Well, not quite the same; they don’t trade blueberries for campsites, but you DO […]
Harvest Hosts attract vanlifers and RV tourists, Boondockers Welcome
RV travelers, vanlifers and other self-contained nomads can stay at interesting destinations with Harvest Hosts. Stays feature wineries, farms, breweries, museums, and more. There’s a membership fee for campers to join, but no camping fee when they stay. Guests are encouraged to buy at least one thing from their hosts during their stay. One guest […]
Holiday 2022 marketing: Tell your founding story
We’re all using the same marketing theme this year: Shop Indie Local. When we work together to spread the word, we’ll multiply how many customers we reach. Learn more from AMIBA, the Shop Indie Local lead sponsor. Let’s do a throwback. Tell your founding story. How did your business come into being? How were you founded? Who was […]
