Intrepid Podcaster Todd Schnick interviewed me on the Small Town Rules.

Todd and I talked about some intrepid business ideas from my Small Town Rules perspective. We talk about the changes that make the whole business world more local, how we’re both global and local, how to connect online as a small business, and my favorite, “reputation is forever.”

We’ve known each other for years on Twitter, but this was our first chance to speak to each other. That’s how I was able to find out about Todd’s own small town roots.

You can learn more about Todd and see the video version of this interview at : Intrepid Radio: Becky McCray.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

If you’d like to learn more about my book, here’s a sample from Small Town Rules (PDF).

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If you haven’t yet, go read the Micropolitan Manifesto. The photos by Pat Jarrett are worth it.

If you loved the Micropolitan Manifesto: How to Radically Revitalize America as much as I did, you’ll want to meet author Katie McCaskey. That’s why I wanted to interview her.

Katie and I talked about a lot of small town issues:

• Moving away and moving home
• Walkability in small towns
• Hobby businesses that become more than a hobby
• The coolest small town grocery store anywhere (beer garden??)
• What makes a micropolitan cool?
• What are our small town strengths?
• Rebounders coming back to small towns

Katie McCaskey Interview (MP3)

The Story from American Public Media also interviewed Katie today. You can hear her starting at about 31 minutes in this story: Parent Teacher Conferences in the Grocery Aisle.

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Dan Gordon is the fourth generation of his family at Samuel Gordon’s Jewelers, a business that has survived for over 100 years.

Although based in Oklahoma City, we found plenty of similarities with small town business and traditions. Dan shared his approach to social networking and how they have changed their marketing spending.

Don’t miss his grandfather Norman’s “drip drop method” to business.

Interview with Dan Gordon MP3 file

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Rick Mahn is a long-time friend, and recently launched his own business.

He took time to talk to me about his online networking secrets, going to in person events, and the parallels between small cities and small towns. He also tells about his new business and using social tools behind the firewall.

Download the audio here.

Find Rick online at his blog: www.rickmahn.com and on Twitter: @RickMahn.

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We talk about Paul’s small town connections, his experiences leading up to writing The Digital Handshake, and his new business consulting with small businesses. We also discuss multiple streams of income and turning freebies into paying clients.

Download the audio here.

You can find Paul at:
his book site: The Digital Handshake
his blog: The Social Media Handyman
on Twitter: @pchaney

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• What’s different in rural business, and what can all businesses learn?
• Do shop local campaigns work? How do you start one?
• What are some keys to success in small retail stores?
• What are some business ideas for small towns?
• What are the differences between locally-based business versus chain businesses?
• What advice can we give business owners facing failure?
• Is social media a waste of time?
• How can you not get sucked into the vortex, or how do you manage your online time?

Here’s the description of the full episode from the Toolkit site:

Greg and John talk about a new initiative by federal officials that is hoped will improve small business lending, recommendations for using your completed business plan, the types of small business insurance, and how to use Business Tools found at toolkit.com sample letters for checking employer references, personal references, educational records and driving records. In addition, Becky McCray, small town entrepreneur owning a retail store and cattle ranch, as well as publisher of SmallBizSurvival.com, is interviewed about rural small business issues and trends.

Go to the Toolkit show site and look for the 10-24-2009 show, or download the MP3 of the interview.
I’m at 20:30 in the show, but the whole things is worth your time.

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Sidewalk musicians draw customers to businesses spread all over downtown during the downtown art walk. Photo by Becky McCray.

When I saw what an exciting thing the Third Thursday downtown in Hutchinson, Kansas, was, I grabbed my cell phone, and Jim Seitnater, the Downtown Development Director for Hutchinson, and did a quick interview.

I admit, the quality of my cell phone video is awful, but the content is terrific, so there is a summary below the video.

Summary of Jim’s comments:

Third Thursday is a great evening of art, music, food, fun, shopping. It’s a time when the community comes out, and sees some of the new improvements and some of the new businesses and people downtown.

It’s the brain child of last year’s art walk that was going to be just once a year. One of Hutchinson’s new residents, a local artist named Jennifer Randall, said we can’t just do it once a year. She was committed to make it work, month in and month out. She saw the possibility of it being a great evening. People get a chance to show off their businesses. People can come down have some fun and enjoy Downtown Hutchinson.

Caught on the #Hutch blogger tour.

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Carl’s Bar had a long history in Hutchinson, Kansas. Then an upstart new owner, Dan Heimerman, who moved back home, moved it to a new location, and revived a local tradition. While on the #Hutch blogger tour, I got a minute of Dan’s time to talk about what it takes to be an entrepreneur.

Dan is a hands-on owner. I caught him fixing bar stools after our interview. :)

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Links Chris mentions:

• FAFSAOnline.com
• FAFSA.ed.gov
• StaffordLoan.com
• ParentPlusLoan.com
• AlternativeStudentLoan.com

Where to find Chris:

• Financial Aid Podcast.com
• 206-350-1208
• Email financialaidpodcast@gmail.com
• ScholarshipSearchSecrets.com: free ebook on using Google to find financial aid

[Photo of Chris Penn by C.C. Chapman on Flickr. Used under a Creative Commons License.]

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Most of us agree we need a business plan, but of course, most of us don’t have one. So this week, I took my own advice, and started on my own simplified business plan.

Here are four tips to help you move to start your own plan.

1. Simplify – I’ve given you an outline
2. Reuse – copy and paste info you create for the bank, tax filings, or existing lists
3. Start on the easy part, the part that interests you
4. Take advantage of variety – print it out, reshuffle, make visual parts, tell stories. Use your best skills.

This was kicked off by a post from Zane Safrit, referring back to Tim Berry. And Zane’s link to an interview of Tim by Guy Kawasaki. And before that, it was kicked by an audio conference from the Business and Professional Women/USA.

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