Building Possibility
Creating a Personal Mission Statement
Forbes recommends that each mission statement answer these questions: What do we do? How do we do it? Whom do we do it for? What value are we bringing? In 2008 I wrote about creating a personal mission statement and came up with: I live each day with a listening, happy heart that guides me…
Read MoreIowa is Getting Younger
According to the US Census, in contrast to most states, five experienced a decline in median age between July 1, 2013, and July 1, 2014: North Dakota, Hawaii, Montana,Wyoming and Iowa. Millennials, or America’s youth born between 1982 and 2000, now number 83.1 million and represent more than one quarter of the nation’s population. Their size…
Read MoreWhat’s in store for retail?
McKenzie reports that by 2020 1/3 of the worlds markets will be emerging. Retail stores will need to be leaner, denser and more in touch with their digital channels. When it’s so easy to shop online, it’s obviously affected the brick and mortar stores. Did you know 44% of those surveyed actually do product research…
Read MoreMini Course: Pop ups
Becky McCray, cattle rancher, liquor store owner and primary at www.smallbizsurvival.com, and I have partnered to bring you a mini course on popups – how to plan one, make it successful and have some fun while doing it. We are the proud owners of www.saveyour.town and our first course is a mini one. One of…
Read MoreUrbanism
Marc Winn and his co-founders recently launched the Dandelion Project in Guernsey which is all about bringing a community together to help create a better place for everybody to live in Dandelion Project. 65,000 inhabitants live on the island of Guernsey off the coast of Normandy, France. This dedicated group is changing their world – and…
Read MoreThe Power of Participation
I’m headed to Fargo next week. This is the third year for me, headed to the Misfit Conf. It’s a handcrafted event for artists, troublemakers and general riff raff. Designed, organized, crafted and presented as a true art treasure that it is by the Misfits, headed by AJ and Melissa Leon. AJ says “Misfit is a…
Read MoreSeating for 1000, 47 at a time
Last week I was in Sioux Falls for 3 days for the Midwest Area Chamber Executives Conference. It’s days of training, networking and hearing about what is working in other communities. This year we received a tour of downtown Sioux Falls as part of the training. Connie Larson from Millbank sat next to me and…
Read MoreGnome Homes
In Iowa the ash trees have been hit by the emerald ash borer, and many of them are being cut down. Some of these trees have been around a long time and will be sorely missed. At our retail meeting yesterday, Steve from Home Appliance suggested we figure out how to make the stumps into…
Read MoreFemale Entrepreneurs
They exist in rural Iowa. In fact, they are right here in Webster City. Take six minutes and listen to their stories.
Read MoreState of Digital Marketing 2015 Report
I got an email from Smart Insights that included their report The State of Digital Marketing in 2015 and this infographic and a few statistics that stood out to me were: One half (50%) of businesses surveyed do not have a defined digital plan or strategy, although they are active in digital marketing. The…
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