Thoughts on Marketing…

Small business marketers across the world are trying to get their message out to consumers – and failing miserably.
They know they have a wonderful product or service, but somehow, no matter how often they send a letter or an e-mail, and no matter how often they pay to have their message printed in a publication, [...]

Small stores in small towns have a huge disadvantage when it comes to price – because they don’t belong to a huge buying network, they buy at a much higher price than “chain” outlets. Thus, sometimes the small store pays more for an item than you can buy it for if you go out of [...]

So you have a local business – and maybe you think that since all of your customers come from the immediate area, you don’t need a website.
Take a minute and re-think that position.
Few live in a community as small as mine – population about 1,500 – but even here, businesses would benefit from a website, [...]

Small businesses are often successful or not depending upon the people running them, and their personal reputations. If you live in a small town, you know how it is – some people have a reputation for honest dealing and providing good service. Others have a reputation that’s somewhat the opposite.
So why, then, do so many [...]

Yesterday I wrote about embracing your competition – and finding out that perhaps instead of competition they could be allies.
Today I made my semi-weekly trip to town for groceries, and since the horse was getting low on grain, stopped at the feed store.
Jack, the properietor, was talking about how nice it would be if the [...]