Guest Post by Jason Duff, Small Nation I’ve been noticing something interesting happening across the small towns we work in, and I don’t think it’s temporary. In a time where inflation is still pinching wallets, customers aren’t just spending less, they’re shopping differently. They’re hunting. Not just for cheap, but for value, uniqueness, and the […]
How a Two-Alarm Fire Almost Ended Our 30-Year Candle Business, But Didn’t
Guest post by Mark Gross, A Cheerful Giver I run A Cheerful Giver out of Elmer, New Jersey. The population is about 1,300. We make candles. Been at it since 1991. January 11, 2025, I got the phone call. Our building was on fire. Two-alarm. They had to bring in trucks from Gloucester County to […]
Want your town to do well? Welcome new people as leaders
The Leadership Myth That’s Holding Us Back The Community Coach | Paula Jensen In small rural communities, leadership matters. But are we unintentionally shrinking our own leadership pool? We care deeply about who leads. We trust the people who show up, pitch in, and carry history with them. But over time, we’ve absorbed quiet assumptions […]
Get more customers without advertising: Show up where they can find you
How the Roofer Nailed Marketing Guest Post by Chris Brogan Let me tell you about an experience I had in a little diner in Lewiston, Maine. I sat at the counter of a busy Maine diner slinging breakfast to a crowd of mostly locals, it seemed. One guy a few seats away from me did […]
