Near there were some murals and my husband drew my attention to them. There were a great deal of murals on older brick walls throughout the suburbs. Murals have been on my mind lately because it's been the talk of Ec.Developers to create them in our communities.  It is a terrific idea because it brightens up the community, pulls everyone together to work on a project, and like some communities such as Faulkton, SD people come just to see the murals. That is a part of economic development; to pull travelers into the community.

It's taken a while, but I finally feel I have my ducks in a row concerning how I want to handle the pricing of my business for local. I was with a group of women last night discussing local and talking about the size of our community back 30-40 years. It was sad to hear them talk how much change there has been in our particular 'rural' community. Now, compared to the 50's-60's our community of 1300 was around 2400 at that time...a thriving metropolitan rural community. I did not know the community in which I live, then, since I am a transplant. I would love to have seen it in it's heyday. I can only imagine now.

The women commented that there were farms everywhere and most everyone had a dairy cow or two along with their other cattle. Parents, grandparents and children were farming together on these small farms. Fast forward to today and the land is blotted with abandoned farm houses and barns, our schools have consolidated, and the land is more vast it seems now that so many of the individuals farmers have lost or sold their farms and big corporation farming has come in and taken over. The young farmer concept was a concept of the past, not of the future, or so I am thinking. Young farmers that want to get into farming, really cannot now because land is selling for too much and much of the land when it does come available is being sold at a higher price to those corporation farmers.
Big corporation farming too hits a rural community where it hurts as well. No longer do they buy gas, feed, seed from the local area in which they farm. They support those communities from where they are from, or bring in their own gas or their own feed and seed. I think relaying this to you I am doing pretty good at stating the problems. I listen to others and talk around the local watering hole, but I was raised city like I've said. The closest I came to a cow was seeing it from my car window on the land, or watching the "Ag kids" load a school bus at a location set apart from where the city kids did. So I think I have learned something these years living in rural America. I do know too I have a lot more to learn.

I don't have as much to learn as the professor from UC in Berkeley CA. The instructor Jackson Kernion that is teaching actual classes to students and took to Twitter to shame "rural Americans" and those who aren't "pro-city." Fox News quoted, "They, as a group, are bad people who have made bad life decisions...and we should shame people who aren't pro-city."
He said "they" should have higher health care, pay more taxes and be forced to live an "uncomfortable" life for rejecting "efficient" city life," Really? REALLYYY? And this guy is paid by UC of Berkeley to teach his 11 philosophical courses? If you were to ask me, they should hang their head in shame. Jackson Kernion is really so far off the mark, and since receiving so much backlash from his comments, he's deleted his tweet. I sincerely hope that he is discredited overall and with that thinking run out of town. He has no clue about rural life, and it angers me the venom he used. Why open your mouth at all about something you know nothing about? Only because you can and you can mislead students who are gullible and listening in earnest? Man, it angers me.

Rural America is alive and well, by the way, and loved by many. Small communities are thriving and some even growing because citizens love where they live. Ben Winchester, a rural specialist from the University of Minnesota Extension and promoter of the rural brain gain migration concept supports this. One reason why the government's statistics reflect that the rural areas are being depleted is mainly because those rural areas are being eaten up by the metropolitan areas. But the brain gain is reflecting:

• The population of residents ages 30 - 49 years old has increased in rural Minnesota counties.
• These newcomers have significant education, skills, connections, spending power and children.
• People migrate to rural communities for 1) a simpler life, 2) safety and security, 3) affordable housing, 4) outdoor recreation and 5) quality schools.
• Communities can work together to attract newcomers and create a quality of life that all residents enjoy.

--why go I-29 when you can go Hwy 15 in east central SD.  Then, if you get there, keep heading north to Milbank and stop at Linda's, or Milbank Flower or Whimsy on Main.  

My next quest as part of my business is to show "Specialty Products" in their own category. (Homemade donuts like at Wall Drug--do you know this particular passion?) I KNOW for certain that others have their favorites --homemade malts, caramel rolls, specialty coffees, truffles, and more.  Why not showcase these places just for what they are known for? ​

When I started the “Dakota Backroads” Facebook page in 2014, I never envisioned it becoming a website and going as far as I have.  After sharing with others about my page at the time and how it started, the bigger picture started to take fruition. The name was changed to include more states than the Dakotas; my excitement and purpose became more solidified and my business was born. If you're new to my blog and stories, I can recap a bit to for you about my business’ beginnings.  

 
My mission was and has been to share the best parts of small and local business in order to get others to stop and see.  Loving that idea, it grew to where it is today, but not without question and frustration. As Mel Robbins says… ​

I cannot say I’m the best salesperson but I can say my passion has only grown and I can definitely tell you my mission. Small and local business’ and entrepreneurs need support.  They are risk takers and dreamers.  They “believe it before they see it.” Or in the words of Thomas Edison about himself as an entrepreneur, “I have not failed, I have just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”  So I’m definitely an advocate for my very own business and what I’m trying to accomplish. Our country was built by entrepreneurs. 
 
This then leads into my trial and errors as business owner of Travel Backroads and the questions I have had since starting. Pricing digital marketing and promoting business on and off the main highway, city street or someone’s home has been a challenge, especially if you're looking for perfection.  ​

I know you’ve missed my blogging! 😉 
So here is my latest... Mini Blog: “Loose Gravel” My Online Blog for rural, small and local--
​
Dissension; now there’s a word. 
Do you know that families, communities, and friendships get torn up over it? Of course you do.

Collaboration, I’m finding, is an art, and FEW are very good at it. 

Working together, especially in a community, doesn’t happen easily. 

Have you ever known someone to run for office because they have their own agenda? 

Have you ever met someone who forged ahead like a bull in a china closet because their way is the right way? Or maybe they don’t have a clue really... but,

People! We’ve got too much at stake in our rural, small and local communities to get caught up in pettiness. We don’t need to have our own way. Our towns’ take the brunt when we can’t see a vision or need for change. Even our area “communities together” pay the price when they can’t work together to form an alliance to be a destination together. 

Economic and Community Development takes hard work, TENACIOUSNESS, willingness of heart, sometimes forgiveness, most the time patience. It won’t happen over night. It takes a long time, that’s why we have to work together. Negativity is like venom. 

Our communities can thrive and grow. Our communities need us and we them. As a friend of mine just recently quoted “positive people cannot be passive.” Pettiness, private agendas, re-living old feuds, having our own way, negativity, selfishness, and control issues will undermine work that needs to be done for rural livability. Make collaboration your goal... #RuralLivability

“Start anywhere, head everywhere” ~Tuesday Ryan Hart

These are precious times. 
Joan

To this day, Philip's friendliness stays with me. I was literally a stranger when we first moved there. I wanted to write a Reader's Digest article about the 1 and 2 finger wave. Crazy, but I wanted to acknowledge Philip for what I discovered; what I was taught by my husband Hans; and what I soon tried to emulate as well. To me it seemed to all mean  something deeper; friendliness, welcoming and acknow-ledgement.  As an observer, I liked and enjoyed these acknowledged greetings. Was I crazy? Do others do this or think about it?
​

Maybe it seems corny to some, but that 'first impression' of a community sets the tone and pace.  There are so many elements to it as well; more than what I mentioned here.  Whether or not you live rurally or live in a city, there are ways to step it up and to reflect friendliness in your personhood or in your place of business.  I challenge you to use that 1 or 2 finger wave symbolically or literally, in ways you never even realized yet. 

It Starts with Us,
Joan

Another new marketing event will be for Travelbackroads.today to join SD Tourism this year through SD Glacial Lakes & Prairies in the northeast region of SD. Rack cards will be placed in the seasonal tourist rest stops in SD and these rack cards (see below) will grab the attention of travelers.  Because Travel Backroads uses a digital platform for marketing, having a physical copy of promotion is not something that is always done by us.  This time however, it is designed to usher tourists, weekenders, destination travelers to all these little businesses that sit along the byways and highways.  Also marketed are those downtown city streets and in homes, wherever they maybe.  Businesses in TBT don't have to have a physical address and some businesses even take their business on the road or strictly online.  We're here to market all styles of small and local business. ​

Our communities want to be on the map and want to be destinations where travelers go.

​Like Faulkton SD's new grain elevator mural, and growing businesses in our communities, we have to keep moving forward and keep our focus on our communities. Collaboration is a great thing to keep working towards. 

​A city mayor recently shared how there’s just not enough money to see our communitys' dreams through. And he’s right. But our cities do have "us"; working for all the places we call home, whether it's a large city or a town so small that if you blink you miss it.

Dakota’s rural culture, so small-town schools and businesses can thrive for generations to come.”  I love the thought of thinking about our children and their children--the future; for all the states around.
If you agree with me or want to do something in your community, a great jump start for you SERIOUSLY is to go to Dakota Resources’ RuralX '19 Summitin June. See below more info on that 

OR if you are going to be near Clear Lake, SD on May 14th buy a $10 ticket ahead of time to hear Women Entrepreneurs' founder Pat McGill.  She's talking at "Women Who Care~~A Gathering" as she talks to women about ruralism, regionalism, women and collaboration.  See Below and call 605.874.8038

C'mon people, run, don't walk to the future; now is the time to be shaping the new rural! 

Joan
Travel Backroads

P.S. Be watching for some new happenings with TB.T! Also a possible future BUS TRIP is in the works. Check out Destination Cluster costs for communities and chambers to get on board. ​

​​​As a business owner you also had better think about those customers coming back in and telling their friends.  Unless you have thousands of dollars to spend on advertising which in and of itself is not a guarantee, you need them to have a reason to come back.  You need it to be a pleasant and productive visit when they come in the first time so it gains you repeat business.

 

• You also NEED people to come into your store that are not just "local" shoppers. 
• You NEED non-locals to stop and you need to let them know where you are and that you're open for business. Find an incentive.
• Your caring about your customer needs to extend beyond your business. 
• You've heard me blog about it here--remember about collaboration with other towns and businesses.  Make it a priority. You can't risk a day without a plan and without reaching outside your own little world.

Simply put, your business needs to be user-friendly,

Joan