Articles

Art in the Rural

Art projects, events and pieces are often the last thing towns think of when it comes to economic development.There is a bit of a tendency for people to think of art as something other people do. If they think of art in their community at all, they think of murals or art exhibits.  Art is…

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Human Behavior and the Idea Friendly Method

How does Human Behavior affect how we use the Idea Friendly Method? The Idea Friendly Method is simply stated as You find your Big Idea and Gather Your Crowd around accomplishing that idea, You turn that crowd into a powerful network and Build Connections and then You and the crowd take Small Steps to accomplish…

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Want a coffee shop? Start small

Brandon and Alicia had this idea that the old bank building they own just might a good coffee shop with WiFi. They looked at prices for all the equipment, got ideas for other vendors to go into the location, and started planning big. But how do they know it will even work as a coffee shop?…

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Say Thank You

Support your businesses with a thank you. A small group of us stopped in to the Pancake House in Paulding, Ohio just to tell them thank you! They are more than a pancake house, they serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. And they are local business owners providing a much-needed service in your community. I get…

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Paint the Streets in Your Small Town

Arts R Alive, a local group in the small town of Webster City, Iowa, bring sculptures to West Twin Park. They together in 2015 and thought it might be fun to paint the streets as a way to do a little fund raising.  18 x 18 squares were laid out, businesses and organizations were invited…

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Weed Whackers and Window Cleaner Ninja

I visited Roscommon County, Michigan and toured a few empty buildings.  On one corner, a major intersection into town, there was an empty building on each corner.  We talked about building possibility, working with the county and the town and hosting a tour. Next to one of the buildings that needed to be torn down…

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Using the Entire Town to Fundraise

Akron, Iowa has a big idea of building an aquatic center. They knew it would cost a lot of money. They will write grants and apply for different kinds of funding. However, without full support of the community, those requests won’t go very far.  Some of the small steps they are taking to raise funds…

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No one person gets to decide

We no longer need a few leaders to make all the decisions. All the people get to do things. Got an idea? Go for it.  And try, test, try again, test again, and refine until it works.  Or it doesn’t. No need for meetings. No need for permissions. No need for drama. The future is now. …

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What will the future look like?

Location doesn’t matter in the future. You can work from anywhere. Work will be competitive and informal/hands on education will be valuable. Artists will be in good shape and Dr’s will see more robots replacing them.  It will be the networking economy and we will need people who can connect with robots. Empathy, communication skills, management…

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Your Gift from Becky and Me

We know that the Idea Friendly method works in small towns just like yours. You can learn all about it by watching this video. You’ve got through December 31 to watch it. Invite others to join you! Happy Holidays!

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