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2023 trends for rural and small town businesses

By Becky McCray

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 […]

December 26, 2022 Filed Under: economic development, entrepreneurship, rural, social media, tourism, trends Tagged With: ecommerce, GenZ, influencer marketing, innovation, materials, retail, sustainability, vintage

Local reviews on Google Maps drive enduring value

By Becky McCray

Screenshot of Google's Marketing Kit for local businesses. Text says, "Free stickers, posters, social posts, and more from your Business Profile on Google". Graphic shows a sticker that says, "review us on Google"

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 […]

December 17, 2022 Filed Under: entrepreneurship, marketing, rural, tourism Tagged With: effective marketing, entrepreneurship, Google local, Google maps, marketing, reviews, service businesses, shop local, shop small, small business

Extra agritourism revenue from camping, cabins and RVs with HipCamp

By Becky McCray

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 […]

December 12, 2022 Filed Under: economic development, entrepreneurship, rural, tourism Tagged With: agritourism, glamping, RV, tourism, vanlife

Harvest Hosts attract vanlifers and RV tourists, Boondockers Welcome

By Becky McCray

A van-sized RV parked in a green field under trees at a winery

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 […]

December 2, 2022 Filed Under: economic development, entrepreneurship, rural, tourism Tagged With: agritourism, RV, tourism, vanlife

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