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Small Biz Survival
  • Two diverse workers installing new shingles on a roof. One worker in a red shirt cuts a shingle. A woman uses a push hoe to remove nails and debris.
    entrepreneurship | marketing | rural | Small Biz 100

    Get more customers without advertising: Show up where they can find you

    January 13, 2026

    How the Roofer Nailed Marketing Guest Post by Chris Brogan Let me tell you about an experience I had in a little diner in Lewiston, Maine. I sat at the counter of a busy Maine diner slinging breakfast to a crowd of mostly locals, it seemed. One guy a few seats away from me did…

    Read More Get more customers without advertising: Show up where they can find youContinue

  • Screenshot of an instagram post with Christmas week business hours. One comment asks, "How late are you open new year's eve?"
    customer service | entrepreneurship | marketing | rural | Small Biz 100 | social media

    How to let customers know when changing your business hours

    March 12, 2025August 6, 2025

    Post extensively on social channels, and pin your hours post to the top of your page Your small business has times when you need to change your hours either for holidays, staff issues or (my favorite) extending into evening hours. How do you retrain your customers so they notice the change? Let’s look at a…

    Read More How to let customers know when changing your business hoursContinue

  • A very busy, full planner with many notes, highlights and scribbles.
    entrepreneurship | management | planning | rural | Small Biz 100

    You don’t have 52 weeks this year

    December 9, 2024December 9, 2024

    By Rob Hatch Thirty-six weeks. Part of my process for planning my business for the New Year is to do a little reality check on exactly how much time I have to work with. What are you talking about, Rob? You have a year. Technically, that’s true. However, on closer inspection, I only have 36…

    Read More You don’t have 52 weeks this yearContinue

  • Three quilts on display in early 2020 at Mississippi Cultural Crossroads Port Gibson Mississippi. Photo by Sheila Scarborough.
    entrepreneurship | failure | rural | Small Biz 100

    Test your business idea with small steps: starting a quilt retreat

    May 7, 2024

    Uniontown, Washington, (population 300) has a strong base of arts, artisan and craft entrepreneurship. When I toured Uniontown, a woman spoke up who wants to start a quilt retreat, a place for people to come and quilt together. More than a local quilting bee, she’s imagining a full retreat space. She owns a historic home…

    Read More Test your business idea with small steps: starting a quilt retreatContinue

  • A tiny travel trailer being used as a mobile retail store, two customers are smiling just outside with their purchase.
    entrepreneurship | rural | Small Biz 100

    Rural entrepreneurs start small to succeed: Global Entrepreneurship Week

    November 13, 2023November 9, 2023

    Part of our Global Entrepreneurship Week celebration Nov 13-19, 2023. Find this and other Global Entrepreneurship Week events listed on the official calendar at GenGlobal. The old way to go into business Imagine all the work that goes into starting a new business. You need to be a good business manager, a marketing guru, and a…

    Read More Rural entrepreneurs start small to succeed: Global Entrepreneurship WeekContinue

  • Seasonal business: How to beat the annual “no bookings!” panic
    entrepreneurship | management | planning | rural | Small Biz 100

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

    August 8, 2022

    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…

    Read More Seasonal business: How to beat the annual “no bookings!” panicContinue

  • How to remember customer names: write them down
    customer service | marketing | rural | Small Biz 100

    How to remember customer names: write them down

    May 28, 2021May 17, 2021

    Guest post by Rob Hatch Chris Brogan recently shared a story of a local bookstore in his hometown. He asked them to order a specific book for him that wasn’t in stock. The owner wrote down his name and phone number and told him she’d order it. The next week, when he walked in the…

    Read More How to remember customer names: write them downContinue

  • Coffee shop with local art displayed on the walls
    customer service | entrepreneurship | marketing | rural | Small Biz 100

    Crowdsourced ideas for coffee shops and other third places

    May 20, 2019March 12, 2025

      At the Main Street Now conference, I sat in on a session about coffee shops. I wrote down bunches of ideas that the audience shared. I thought you might know a coffee shop person, or you might think of ways to use these with other types of small town businesses. Hold trivia nights or…

    Read More Crowdsourced ideas for coffee shops and other third placesContinue

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How to get customers in the door of small town and rural retail stores

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