You know how we give directions in small towns, right? We point you to houses by who used to live there, “the Allen place,” or direct you to turn where things used to be, “where that old barn burned down.” We do this in town and out in the country. This drives newcomers and…
Live streaming video provides you new ways to reach customers and promote your small business. Today’s tools include Facebook Live, Instagram and Snapchat Live Stories, Google Hangouts that stream live on YouTube, Periscope video that streams on Twitter, and even stolid old LinkedIn that will let you pipe in live video from your Facebook…
Between writing blog posts, sharing on social media, and creating graphics for my business, I’m always using photos. As much as possible, I use my own photos or ones that rural friends have shared with me with permission to re-use them. But I still find places I need a photo that I don’t have…
How can local businesses build more sales through social media? Just ask for requests, then answer them. Your fellow reader Julie Barr wrote in with this example she spotted: Hi Becky, I knew you would appreciate how our local liquor store took to social media to increase their business! Here’s what they did: The…
Guest post by H. E. James, MBA Marketing a rural business is never easy. Standing out from the crowd of larger businesses with bigger budgets isn’t easy, but social media has made the marketing world a much smaller place. At the same time, it may feel that there are too many social media platforms to…
“Man, getting iPads was like discovering fire,” Lance Morgan, CEO of Ho-Chunk Inc., told me years ago. It’s still true that tablets can revolutionize business, but they can also be a boost to your personal productivity. We talked about ways to use tablets in retail businesses, and this time we’re talking about ways you can…
I run a retail store in a small town, and I love technology. That’s why I came up with these ten ways you can put an Android tablet or iPad to work in your rural retail business. 1. Take payments at the Point of Sale Throw away your old cash register. A tablet makes…
I realize that no one likes accounting, but I like WaveApps. I like that they focus on businesses with 9 or fewer employees, or no employees at all. I know that there are a lot of specialty apps out there, one for invoicing, one for receipts, something else for payroll. I don’t need the job…
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