Last week, I attended the EntreEd Consortium Forum in Oklahoma City with the National Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education. I was there because I believe small towns don’t need kids who will graduate high school or return from college, then look around for a job. We need kids who will graduate, then look for an…
We’re all using the same marketing theme this year: Shift Your Shopping. When we work together to spread the word, we’ll multiply how many customers we reach. Let’s get started using the Shift Your Shopping logo on your social media accounts, especially Facebook. First we’ll need a Shift Your Shopping logo. Here’s my favorite version,…
The Brag Basket is open! This one is for October 16-18, 2015. Bring your good news, big or small, to share with everyone. What can you do in the Brag Basket? introduce yourself share some great news from this week congratulate a friend applaud for each other confess your undying love for rural places…
As a small-business owner, how often have you said, in conversation, “I can’t compete with the big stores?” How often has a customer been told you can’t do something because this is just a small business? Stop it! That sounds harsh, but your words just made you your worst competition. Instead, offer the customer information…
A downtown retail store owner told me she closes at 5 pm because she hates to stay later. She gets to work at 8 am most days, and so at 5 pm she’s ready to go home. She doesn’t like to delegate at all, she told me, and she wouldn’t ask anyone to do anything…
The Brag Basket is open! This one is for October 9-11, 2015. Bring your sweet good news, big or small, to share with everyone. What can you do in the Brag Basket? introduce yourself share some great news from this week congratulate a friend applaud for each other confess your undying love for rural…
When you think of good customer service when you have a product issue what comes to mind? To me it starts with fixing the issue. Words like prompt, fair and immediate come to mind along with getting having it happen quickly with the first person I contact. As a business owner, we want to believe…
You don’t have to settle for a normal business. Rural businesses are exploring new shapes, new locations and new ways of doing business. Here are six innovative ways people are building businesses in small towns today. 1. Pop-ups These are temporary business that may last from just one day to several months. You’ve seen short-term…
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