Tell us what you think.

When a financial crisis arrives, it is too late to try to make the case for all the services your downtown organization provides to the community.   You need to be spending that time engaging your support base and selling the future.  To do that, there has to be a broad based system of support throughout the … More Tell us what you think.

Virginia’s Main Street in the news

The Sunday, April 5 edition of the Richmond Times-Dispatch had several articles of note about Virginia Main Street communities.  First was an article about Abingdon’s latest downtown promotion, then an article about Page County’s (including Luray) attempt to be designated as the “Cabin Capital of Virginia.” Then yet another article, this one talking about the … More Virginia’s Main Street in the news

Trading Faces: Building and caring for your online reputation

You’ve spent years building your professional reputation and protecting your organization’s good name, but in today’s interconnected, information-rich world it’s easier than ever for the actions of others to damage the goodwill you’ve established. Networking is a basic responsibility of business owners and organizations serving them. We network to keep abreast of best practices, to … More Trading Faces: Building and caring for your online reputation

New media

Question: What took 89 years for the telephone; 38 years for the television; and 14 years for the cell phone?  The answer? How long it took for each of these communication devices to be adopted by 150 million users. In only five years Facebook has attracted more than 175 millon users – and it’s not … More New media

Recession advertising

This article  in Entrepreneur magazine could help some of your downtown businesses use their limited advertising dollars more effectively.  Then again, it could help your promotional efforts as well. While Entrepreneur’s Kim Gordon gives a four-point recession advertising checklist to make sure your ad budget does the most good, her advice should adapt well to … More Recession advertising