Blog
Merchandising your Brand
The best businesses inspire emotions that go beyond a simple "this is where I buy some of my products or services." People feel a connection to great businesses, organizations and...
Spring Cleaning
In the world of consumer physical interaction with businesses, we talk about "passive" and "active" forms of interaction. When a consumer is in "active" mode, they know the business that...
Honoring our History
One of the great parts about working for Emporia Main Street is the ability to compare Emporia to other communities. Comparative analysis is often used to determine best practices for...
Target your Involvement
As we roll out of the first month of the year, many of us on a personal or business level have made a New Year's resolution to make a social...
Planning your Intro
Most businesses get hectic during the Christmas season. Of course retailers are busy, but restaurants see an uptick and many service businesses also see increased traffic as people are assessing...
A look at our market
As we head into 2017, many businesses are looking for additional market opportunities. Entrepreneurs looking at the local market are identifying areas where they can be competitive. Markets are complex...
2016 Year in Review
Emporia Main Street works with a variety of members and partners to push new initiatives and create new opportunities every year. We appreciate everyone's support as we work to create...
Are you following up?
When working with local businesses and businesses in other communities, we often get the question "how do we get more customers?". The "more customers" conversation usually comes from businesses that...
Donation Dilemma
A lot of businesses are getting "hit up" for donations this year, sometimes four and five times a day. Although they want to give to everyone, the process can be...
December: A Survival Guide
Thursday is December 1st-can you believe it? This month is historically one of the (if not the biggest) retail and dinning out months of the year! As shoppers gear up...
10 Tips for Holiday Shopping Success
For many businesses, holidays are the make-or-break season, but this crucial time of year can easily sneak up on you. It's time to get ready now, before you get overwhelmed...
Everyone wants to know how to best reach our youth…
The old model of working with youth was based on segmentation. A more established group of individuals would tell younger folks what to do, and as they earned their stripes,...
Empowering Your Employees
In the fourth quarter, most businesses find themselves in a flurry of activity with promotions, events, and seasonal help. In previous articles we have discussed the importance of finding a balance between work and...
Balancing Act
Entrepreneurs are people. Although business people sometimes seem like they can do it all, the extra time spent at a successful business can strain time normally made available for family...
Taking Advantage of Connecting with Customers
As a small business owner, there are several ways to market to your existing and potential customer base. Conventional ways can be found through radio and on air promotions and...
Don’t Let Them Steal Your Focus
We occasionally get requests for articles on specific topics, and this week's article fulfills one such request. As downtowns grow their business base and popularity, they often will experience "growing pains". Increases in foot traffic, parking...
Interviewing: You Need to Be Prepared Too
Well first things first. For those of you that don't know me, my name is Jess Buchholz and I am the "new" Community Development Director at Emporia Main Street. My...
A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned
Help is available to make homes more energy efficient for low-income families in Lyon County* through the ECKAN Weatherization Program. This help is provided at no cost to those who...
“Third Place” Creation
A few weeks ago, we had a newsletter article that referenced the term "Third Places". The inclusion of the third place ( sometimes called "Third Space") term resulted in a...
Activating Blocks
Listening to the descriptions of local citizens as they describe an area in their community is telling. In one area, a consumer may say "this block is alive" and in...
Thanks For Making Us Number One
A little preface to the press release we sent out in conjunction with the award announcement: The Top 10 Best Main Streets Award nominees were chosen by a panel of...
Talking to Property Owners
This is the second in a series of e-news articles inspired by sessions at the National Main Street conference in Milwaukee. This particular session was attended by a volunteer, and...
Can Small Towns Be Cool?
Many communities that attend the National Main Street conference simply send one staff member. In Emporia one of the keys to our community success has been encouraging board members and...
