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Need a downtown business idea? Try a Cookie Crawl

By Becky McCray

A tray of cookies on a craftsman-style table

  Our friend Maury Forman of Washington state, sent us this idea from Madras, Oregon: On February 16 the Madras Downtown Association and Petite Sweets hosted the first-ever Cookie Crawl. Participants paid $5 and received a box and map that listed all the locations where the beautifully decorated cookies were available. Petite Sweets decorated cookies […]

July 22, 2019 Filed Under: entrepreneurship, marketing, rural Tagged With: activities, downtown, effective marketing, entrepreneurship, events, guest post, Maury Foreman, promotions, retail, rural, service businesses, small business

How $5 and a bowl of soup can rebuild your community

By Becky McCray

A list of project pitches: 1. Upper floor tours. 2. Bike rentals. 3. Permanent info booth. 4. Food truck festival. 5. Jazz equipment.

  Have you heard of “soup” events? People pay a small amount, say $5, to attend a local pitch event. Local groups pitch their ideas, everyone votes, and the winner gets the money. The real winner is the community, of course. It boosts activity, gets people talking to each other, builds momentum and rewards people […]

June 3, 2019 Filed Under: community, economic development, entrepreneurship, finance, rural Tagged With: catalyst, Detroit, Enid, events, food for thought, idea friendly, networking, rural, show of hands, soup, Wheeling

Getting people to mix at an event

By Becky McCray

People moving along a picnic serving line

  Holding an event and want to get people to mix across some divide? Put the drinks and plates on one side, the food and cups on the other. See what you did there? You’ve separated the food from the plates, and the cups from the drinks. This simple trick of making people move around […]

May 27, 2019 Filed Under: community, rural Tagged With: community building, events, hosting, rural

Small Business Marketing: Start Your Own Holiday

By Glenn Muske

Ground Hog Day

If you have followed this blog, my colleague, Becky McCray, has provided lots of ideas for building communities and the small businesses in those areas. Her blogs have suggested things such as Pop-ups – https://smallbizsurvival.com/2014/03/what-is-a-pop-up-business.html Shared spaces – https://smallbizsurvival.com/2017/04/small-town-retail-trend-shared-spaces.html Tiny businesses – https://smallbizsurvival.com/2017/03/tiny-businesses-in-storage-sheds-a-rural-economic-development-tool.html I am adding another thought to this list by suggesting that a business or […]

July 26, 2017 Filed Under: marketing, rural, Small Biz 100 Tagged With: events, ideas, market plans, marketing, opportunities, small business marketing, successful marketing

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