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Seasonal business: How to beat the annual “no bookings!” panic

By Becky McCray Leave a Comment

Do you tend to panic about a lack of business at a certain point during the year? Do you always feel like you’ll never get enough bookings for the fall? I know several independent professionals who feel like this: a professional photographer who always worries in late summer that there won’t be enough bookings for […]

August 8, 2022 Filed Under: entrepreneurship, management, planning, rural, Small Biz 100 Tagged With: annual planning, calendar, mindset, optimism, service businesses

Recession? Practical steps from 3 international peers

By Becky McCray Leave a Comment

Becky McCray, in a small town downtown

I have a monthly call with 2 international business friends where we share our work and mentor each other. Last week, one of them asked how we felt and what we planned for possible recession. Decide for Impact coach Erno Hannink studies the stoic philosophy and says not to worry about this kind of issue. Focus […]

August 3, 2022 Filed Under: entrepreneurship, global, rural, survivors

Reaching “at risk” kids for local jobs

By Becky McCray

Workforce is a challenge for 2/3rds of rural small businesses. Source: Survey of Rural Challenges, 2021 One under-utilized source of workers: At-risk students Tony Guidroz, from San Saba, Texas, told me he was shocked when he found out there were 702 kids in the local school district, and more than 400 were considered “at-risk” either […]

July 15, 2022 Filed Under: economic development, rural, workforce, youth Tagged With: at-risk students, blue collar jobs, career fair, workforce, youth

Rural and Small Town Speaker Becky McCray

By Small Biz Survival

Small Town Speaker Becky McCray presents the keynote speech to the North Carolina Rural Conference, organized by the NC Rural Center

Becky McCray is a rural speaker available for in person, hybrid and virtual events. She has spoken at events in the USA, Canada, Australia and UK. I help you shape a brighter future for your town no matter what the negative people do, giving you practical steps you can put into action right away. My […]

July 9, 2022 Filed Under: announcement, economic development, rural Tagged With: Becky McCray, professional speaker, rural speaker, small town speaker

Has your community made negativity a habit?

By Paula Jensen

Paula Jensen

Living in a small town, we are often inclined to see change in our community as a threat to ourselves and our way of life. When we feel threatened by change, uncertainty rears its ugly head and our negativity often takes over. We say things like “What’s wrong with the way we’ve always done it?” […]

July 6, 2022 Filed Under: community, economic development, rural Tagged With: community coach, community development, guest post, habits, negativity, Paula Jensen, rural, small towns

3 Major factors in rural remote work: incentives, flexible workspaces, and a sense of community

By Becky McCray

Remote work will dominate the future small town workforce Your current residents Your current small town residents will increasingly work from home or remotely. Gallup looked at jobs that could be done remotely and the locations where workers actually did them. Four times as many workers will work remotely going forward, compared to the number […]

June 6, 2022 Filed Under: community, economic development, rural, trends, workforce, youth Tagged With: community, coworking, internet, remote work, resident recruitment, rural, zoom towns

How to recruit new residents, remote workers, or remote entrepreneurs

By Becky McCray

The most common thing rural people ask us about remote workers is how to attract them. To find out what will make your town attractive, let’s look at what attracts people to your town right now.  Every town has some people moving in every year, and we don’t notice them. We are far more aware […]

June 2, 2022 Filed Under: community, economic development, rural Tagged With: in migration, remote work, resident attraction, rural, rural sourcing, zoom towns

About Small Town Rules

By Small Town Rules

Your Sample of Small Town Rules Read the full introduction and get a feel for what’s in the book before you lay out your cash. PDF Sample Or browse an excerpt at Google Books Ready to buy? All your shopping options are here. What’s in Small Town Rules Technology and economics are transforming business in a completely unexpected […]

May 15, 2022 Filed Under: SmallTownRules

Chris Brogan works Anywhere, Anywhen from his small town

By Small Town Rules

As we celebrate the one year anniversary of Small Town Rules and winning a 2013 Small Business Book Award, we’ve asked a few friends to share the rules that are a part of their business every day. Today, Chris Brogan tells his small town story of working anywhere, anywhen. Every business can take advantage of […]

May 11, 2022 Filed Under: SmallTownRules

How cooperatives improve small town economies

By Becky McCray

Signboard on a sidewalk says, "Oneota Co-op, a community owned grocery featuring local, whole and organic foods

Cooperatives can play a big role in small towns, providing products and services to fill gaps as well as giving local people a share of ownership. Rural cooperatives go way back Rural areas have a long history with cooperatives through cooperative telephone service, electricity, and agriculture. My husband is a member of the Alva Farmers […]

May 8, 2022 Filed Under: community, economic development, entrepreneurship, rural Tagged With: business formation, business structure, co-ops, cooperatives, small business

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