Local Business

No experience in farming? No problem! The Profitable Hobby Farm gives you all the tools you need to launch a thriving hobby-farm business. Based on the author's expert guidance and the motivating experiences of other small farmers, it shows you how to blend strategy, marketing, and money management in order to prosper. The Profitable Hobby Farm provides sound, friendly start-up advice on a variety of topics essential to making an initial foray into a local-foods venture. A supplemental PDF is included with this audiobook.

A well-paid executive feels trapped in her very respected but unsatisfying job. A startup founder has paying customers, but knows that unless he "fires" them and pivots the business, his startup won't make it. A senior government planner is tasked with undoing the nation's reliance on outdated infrastructure. These are all examples of individuals stuck in a Local Maximum; we've reached a peak, but not the one that fulfills the highest potential. In order to move up in our pursuits, we must first move back down.

Whiting, Indiana Saturday, August 27, 1955 Sunrise, 6:11 a.m. Its 80 degrees in the shade, and most of the city's residents are still trying to sleep off an airless, oppressive night. But inside the plant at Whiting's biggest employer (and one of the worlds largest oil refineries), something has gone horribly wrong, something that threatens to destroy the entire community. The clock changes. 6:12 a.m. This is the story of what happened at one minute after sunrise on that cataclysmic day in 1955, spoken in the words of the people who lived through it.

There’s never been a better time to quit the rat race and start your own business...but where do you start? Are you passionate about pooches but clueless, confused, and crippled with fear when it comes to marketing? I hear you. The pet service sector is booming - but the market is saturated. Competition is everywhere, and it’s increasing every day. The good news is there’s a tried-and-trusted way to stand out and leave that competition behind.

As a 20-year veteran marketer renowned for growing businesses of all types, Jim Flint knows firsthand the difference a dealer's digital presence can bring to real-life sales. And in Car Dog Millionaire, he shares the valuable research he's conducted over the years - combined with Google's own astonishing data on how website visits correlate to car sales.

The Huck Finn of foreign correspondents provides a colorful account of old Honolulu, the island nobility, the City of Refuge on the Kona coast, and the active volcano of Kilauea. These selections of Mark Twain's newspaper dispatches are both charming and informative. The light touch of the great humorist is seldom missing as he reveals the "loveliest fleet of islands that lie anchored in any ocean".

With over $500 million a year in sales, the Bassett Furniture Company was once the world's biggest wood furniture manufacturer. But beginning in the 1980s, the Bassett company suffered from an influx of cheap Chinese furniture as the first waves of Asian competition hit, and ultimately was forced to send its production offshore to Asia. Only one man fought back. That man is John Bassett III, a descendant of the Bassetts who is now chairman of Vaughan-Bassett Furniture Co, which employs more than 700 Virginians and has sales of over $90 million.

Over the past several years, Hardwick, Vermont, a typical hardscrabble farming community of three thousand residents, has jump-started its economy and redefined its self-image through a local, self-sustaining food system unlike anything else in America.

Almost everyone has faced the frustrating task of negotiating with a local, state, national, or foreign government at some point in their lives. Whether they are applying for a building permit from their local zoning board, trying to sell software to the US Defense Department, looking for approval for a merger, or planning to set up a business in Limerick or Bangalore, businesspeople confront a unique set of challenges when dealing with any form of government.

Bypassed is your how-to business guide to adopt the brand-building tactics that work in today’s real estate market. In this action-oriented playbook, you’ll learn how to build vital brand visibility online to generate influence in your community; why just having a Facebook business page isn’t enough and how to harness the power of LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram, so you don’t miss a lead; the 10-step checklist you need to get more quality online reviews; how to become a legendary lead master; and the entire road map on how to create an unforgettable customer experience.

We live in a digital driven world that fixates on digital transactions, but what if we shifted our focus to building relationships in real life instead? This framework encourages precisely that, a shift from transactional thinking to relationship centered engagement that will set you up for long term success.

Marketing experts John Quelch and Katherine Jocz offer a new way to think about place in every strategic decision - from how to leverage consumer associations with locations to where to position products on the shelf. They explore case studies such as Nike and The Apple Store, which use place in creative ways. Drawing on a blend of hard data and engaging anecdotes, this audiobook will help any business - from global mega-brands to boutique, small town stores - influence customers more effectively.

Local Marketing Made Simple is the original and most effective guide for taking your local business to the next level. Written by top-selling marketing author and entrepreneur Michael Fleischner, the Local Marketing Made Simple system has already helped thousands of local business owners double and triple the size of their businesses.

Local SEO for Small Business Owners is a guide for local entrepreneurs who would like to learn and understand the best local search engine optimization (SEO) strategies - on-page SEO and off-page SEO and how to market their products and services with Google. Nowadays, when it looks like everybody is competitive and vying for the top spot on search engine rankings and customers’ wish lists, devising an SEO blueprint that stands out is the foregone conclusion. Remember, you want to be better than your competitors!

Bottled water is on the verge of becoming the most popular beverage in the country. But what's the cost of all this water for us and for the environment? In this eye-opening book, Elizabeth Royte does for water what Michael Pollan did for food: She examines the people, machines, economies, and cultural trends that surround it on its journey from distant aquifers to our supermarkets and homes.

After years of sharing her small-business tips and marketing tricks with readers of her popular blog, ChunkOfChange.com, and her column in the Long Beach Post, Olga Mizrahi has taken her message to the streets, urging business owners to focus in while reaching out. You'll be excited and motivated to state your difference clearly to the world--and your neighborhood--while confidently selling yourself and your business.

Are you a new investor? If you want wealth creation, like large “chunks of cash” every month, then quick-flipping houses and apartment houses is the best and easiest point of entry, period.

This brilliantly original book dismantles the underlying assumptions that drive the decisions made by companies and governments throughout the world, to show that our shared narrative of the global economy is deeply flawed. If left unexamined, they will lead corporations and countries astray, with dire consequences for us all.

But like any art industry, there’s competition, dos and don’ts, and tricks of the trade that no one likes to tell. Achieving that music dream seems out of reach, and the overwhelming reality of building your music career can sap the joy out of your beloved passion.

For some of the world's most powerful people, the Empire State Building is the ultimate prize. In a riveting chronicle of betrayal, revenge, family rivalry, and raw greed, Wall Street Journal columnist Pacelle tells the compelling tale of the Empire State Building ownership battle of the 1980s and '90s, bringing to life a colorful cast of characters that includes Donald Trump, Leona Helmsley, and the eccentric Japanese billionaire Hideki Yokoi.