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Small town marketing secret: Have something to invite people to

By Becky McCray Leave a Comment

Two musicians play guitar while seated on the sidewalk outside a brick storefront during a community event, with pedestrians stopped to listen and watch

People need a compelling reason to leave their homes and come experience your business with you. This feels like a very heavy lift. . You’re supposed to be exciting enough to pull people away from their phones, their families and the comfort of online shopping. You’re competing with everything else demanding their attention. Here’s the […]

February 24, 2026 Filed Under: big company, entrepreneurship, marketing, rural, shop local, trends Tagged With: community development, effective marketing, entrepreneurship, marketing, non-retail, retail, service businesses, shop indie local, shop small, small business success

More experience-based retail: the Charm Bar, Valentine’s Rose Bouquet Bar

By Becky McCray

Ad for Daisy Village Valentines sweets popup and rose bouquet Bar

Following up on the trend of rural experience-based retail, I spotted these Valentine’s Day offerings from my local women’s boutique, The Daisy Village. I’m seeing more and more use of the term “Bar” to refer to any assemble-your-own type experience. Think like a salad bar, where you pick just the parts you want, but for […]

February 14, 2026 Filed Under: entrepreneurship, marketing, rural, shop local, trends Tagged With: customer service, experience, experience economy, retail

Buy Inventory Online Using Wholesale Apps: Tips for Small Town Retail Stores

By Becky McCray

I walked into a local retail shop in Alva, Oklahoma, population 4,000. It’s called Bates & Co., and they are best known for their handcrafted hairbows for infants and kids. But when I walked into their store, they had all kinds of things under one roof: women’s clothes, fashion jewelry, travel accessories and more. It […]

February 4, 2026 Filed Under: entrepreneurship, management, rural, tools Tagged With: inventory, retail, rural, shop indie local, shop small, small business success, wholesale

The End of Year Checklist for Small Businesses

By Becky McCray

In a fabric store, a dark-skinned woman with long salt-and-pepper colored hair is using a laptop notebook to manage the business

I’ve been in business a long time now, from retail to service to ag, and I’ve learned some things about wrapping up one year and getting ready for the next. Some of it I learned the hard way! Whether you run your business on paper, desktop software, mobile or cloud services, there are common tasks […]

December 25, 2025 Filed Under: entrepreneurship, management, organization, rural, tax matters Tagged With: annual planning, retail, service businesses, small business management

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