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Small Town Business shines a light on people making big things happen in small towns, regional and rural communities. Each episode is in two-parts. In Part one, we chat with a small-town business owner, hand picked because they have a particularly special story to tell. They generously share the ups and downs and all the in-betweens of their business, before part two where I draw out one of the key points of the discussion into a specific learning with a focus on marketing and business devel ...
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Text me your thoughts Andy McCarthy is an entrepreneur, best known for building a renewable energy business from a tiny town called Mirboo North in South Gippsland Victoria. He later sold his company ‘Gippsland Solar’ to the RACV but he hasn’t lost his passion for renewables. Andy now delivers keynote speeches, leadership training and workshops, an…
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Text me your thoughts I’m sure we’ve all been there - seen a sign on a window or a post in a local facebook group with that ‘business for sale’ headline. It starts you thinking…what if?? In this episode I’ve pulled together five key things to consider, to look out for, to plan for if you’re thinking of buying an established business or, if you alre…
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Text me your thoughts Kate Toon is a multi award winning entrepreneur, author and speaker. In the circles I work in, she’s well known for her commonsense approach to complex beasts like SEO and digital marketing. And then in 2024, out of the blue, she bought her local bookshop and has shared her journey with refreshing honesty. Kate is not technica…
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Text me your thoughts How do you grow a thriving business in a small town, regional or rural area? One way is to learn from others and this podcast is a great place to do just that. If you’ve ever wondered how to make big things happen in a regional or rural area, you’re in the right place. I’m sharing exciting updates about Small Town Business, wh…
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Text me your thoughts Alex Thomas is a rural health and safety specialist and advocate for safety and wellbeing in regional and rural areas - especially on farms. In this episode she tells us her very personal ‘why’ and why she’s so passionate about this topic. She has chosen women to help her in her mission through her organisation ‘Plant a Seed f…
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Text me your thoughts Sometimes to make a treechange you have to leave your career behind and start something new. There are so many pros to building a local business - especially to support your lifestyle or family goals, if commuting back and forth to the nearest City just isn’t possible. In this episode, I take some of the tips I’ve gotten from …
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Text me your thoughts Kristy Plumridge is the owner of Greenhills Farm and The Ridge House in Yarragon, West Gippsland. She and her husband Neil made a treechange from Melbourne in 2015 but they did it a little differently - pretty smartly I think. They bought a farm with no experience BUT rather than taking their inexperience in farming and jumpin…
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Text me your thoughts Even though I believe there is usually a place for social media in your marketing, I will rarely encourage anyone to JUST focus on it. Having a healthy spread of promotional and marketing activity allows you to reach a broader audience and mitigate any potential disasters - like getting locked out of your social media accounts…
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Text me your thoughts How much time and effort do you spend working on your business’ social media? Is it at the expense of other media? There’s increasing pressure from all around us to believe that social is the only way you can build your business or promote yourself, your business or brand but there are options. Great options… In this interview…
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Text me your thoughts If you’re in a small business, chances are you’re wearing the marketing and social media hat. Being close to the heart of your business makes you the best person for the job, but sometimes it can be hard to share the type of content that really connects you to your audience and converts them into customers. How much do you sha…
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Text me your thoughts My guest, Amy from The New Red, is no stranger to a good pivot, having traveled a winding road in her career and life. More recently in her small business she went into battle against her local Council to keep her successful woodworking and emerging skills training business afloat but chose to put her mental health first - piv…
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Text me your thoughts Are you a lifelong learner? I am! Learning comes with success and failure and, in small business, it comes from listening to others’ experiences. In this episode I open up about some of my learnings and challenges to date. I hope it helps - even if it just validates some of your challenges. You’re not alone! Mentioned in this …
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Text me your thoughts My guest, Jackie Yong from Soilz Alive, describes herself as a curious human, compost enthusiast and hair lover…three things that you wouldn’t think you could turn into a business. But she has and it’s great. It wasn’t all smooth sailing though and Jackie generously shares her ups and downs in this chat. I hope you enjoy it! T…
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Text me your thoughts This week I’m talking about passion. How to find it when you’re feeling stuck or how to know what you could or should be doing. I give you a few thoughts on how being passionate about your business can backfire and some tools to try and prevent that. Passion is an incredible foundation for a business and is absolutely essentia…
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Text me your thoughts Does your small town have a calendar of events that you attend regularly? If not, do you wish it did? Conceptualising, creating and running events is no small feat and it requires a lot of hard work and passion. My guest, Alli Walker from Walker Events has that passion and you’ll hear it today. Alli will give you just a little…
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Text me your thoughts Purpose-driven, for-purpose, heart-led, social-enterprise, profit-for-purpose… There are a lot of ways to describe businesses that have a purpose or a mission, but there’s also a common misconception that business that have a purpose, or are driven by advocacy for example - shouldn’t be ‘for profit’. Today’s episode is about h…
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Text me your thoughts Just a few years ago, Jason and Andy Quin conceived, developed and launched a really special range of alcohol-free, inclusive drinks, called ETCH Sparkling, that celebrate health and native Australian fruits and herbs. Special for those reasons alone, but the personal journey that led them here is significant and an important …
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Text me your thoughts There’s a lot that can be said about family when it comes to business, especially small business. It’s very hard to run your own business without involving your family - whether directly or indirectly. Setting boundaries and having clear intentions can all get a little blurred when you don’t have that distinction between work …
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Text me your thoughts Are you one of the many many people who left their home town seeking greener pastures, fame or fortune only to feel that pull back when the time came to raise your own family? I am and so is Sarah Rowan, my guest today. Sarah lives in rural New South Wales and, alongside her brother, took over the reins of the family business …
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Text me your thoughts Authenticity is such a slippery little sucker. We know it’s important, but what does it actually mean to be authentic when it comes to your business or your social media and marketing? In this episode I reflect on my conversation with Doug in episode 8 and I’ve pulled out five thought starters on what I think authenticity mean…
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Text me your thoughts Over the past two years I’ve talked with a lot of people who took a redundancy or lost their jobs during the pandemic. People who found themselves with either no choice but to start their own business or, in the case of this guest, saw an opportunity to take a risk and explore what he could build with his passion and knowledge…
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Text me your thoughts As this podcast season progresses, I’m realising that everyone I speak with has something in common. The safety net of their own community. If you’ve been listening along, you might have noticed that too. So in this episode, I’m going to take my learnings from Dave (episode 6) and look a little deeper at the role that communit…
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Text me your thoughts One of my favourite sayings is ‘a rising tide lifts all boats’ and I reckon Dave, his wife Mich and their network of business owners, foodies, makers and shakers are definitely that tide. We’re back in Warragul because I really wanted to introduce you to Dave, who would talk for days to share his knowledge on what community ov…
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Text me your thoughts I’m back again talking about confidence and how you can channel it if you’ve got it, or muster it up if you don’t. You’ll hear my thoughts on five ways that you can work on your confidence and, in doing so, put your best foot forward in your business. Have the capacity to deal with stuff like rejection or slow social media gro…
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Text me your thoughts Confidence. Backing yourself. Sometimes when you’re starting out in business you really do have to fake it till you make it. And I’m not talking about anything dodgy here. I mean digging deep and faking the confidence that you need to walk into a room and say hey I’m here and you need my fantastic products. That’s the confiden…
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Text me your thoughts In this episode I dig a little deeper into the idea of ‘virality’. Why DO we dream of a large following? Why do we crave NUMBERS when it comes to our social media? You’ll hear my thoughts on five key features of viral content and how you can learn from that for your own business marketing. As you’re listening, have a think abo…
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Text me your thoughts In the midst of all the lockdowns in 2020, Hanna Lofgren and her husband Grego Montalban Sanchez (aka The Invy Baker), set up a micro-bakery in the small coastal town of Inverloch, South Gippsland. Their intention was to create a lifestyle business that would take Grego away from the grind of #cheflife and allow them to spend …
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Text me your thoughts Small Town Business is coming soon! Follow along for inspiring stories from community-driven, authentic people. Then let Erika McInerney - that’s me your host - teach you how you can take that inspiration and turn into into action for your business. Make sure you follow or subscribe so you don’t miss the first episode!…
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