It’s the million dollar question in small towns: how do we get more participation? Participation might mean volunteers, contributions, or even audience members. Volunteers kick off the Picture My WeekendPhotography event in Alva, Oklahoma. I get asked this every time I speak. It seems every town and organization, every festival and fair is dealing with […]
Coffee and Calendars: How to build more cooperation in your community
What if your town council, your chamber of commerce, and your school board sat down together for a public meeting just to compare calendars? What if these leaders started talking about possible cooperation, shared projects, or mutual goals? What if more local boards and leaders began to participate, aligning their own goals and efforts with […]
Peek into competition websites with Compete
How much do you know about your competitor’s website? Do they get more traffic than your site, or less? What keywords are sending them the most traffic? Compete.com can give you the answers. Put in three website addresses. Compete will give you their traffic chart. For websites with enough traffic, it will also give a […]
Small town profit/nonprofit partnerships
Long ago, Rebecca Leaman asked me about nonprofits in small towns. Profit/nonprofit partnership is essentialin most small towns. “A lot of your thoughts on small-town and small-biz development seem to apply well to nonprofits, too – certainly to the grassroots groups that keep rural communities (I live in one) rolling. Your thoughts?” At the time, […]
