I love doing business in a small town.  As a business owner, I find that you can better serve your clients because you understand them.  You get to know them.  And you can give personalized service with that knowledge.  In addition, when your community knows you, they want to support you.

There is power in those small-town relationships.

In a larger area, you can disappear a bit.  You can be anonymous.  Comcast can afford to give crappy service.  No one knows who “they” are.  But when you are an entrepreneur in a small area, you can’t disappear.  When you go to the grocery store, you will likely run into the person you didn’t take care of on that last transaction.

For the most part, I think that is a very good thing.  It encourages us to do business “the right way.”  I talk about that in my book “The Give First Economy.”

On the other hand, this lack of anonymity can make it hard to stand up.  If you say something (or post something) that is not popular, it can affect your business.  And you will see it on the faces of those you see at the grocery store.

I am struggling with those emotions this morning.

You can see why if you check out this video this morning called “It’s time to change the name of Whitewoman Street.”

I believe it’s the right thing to do…and I feel I need to say it.  But I would be lying if I said was not a bit concerned about the reaction.  My hope is that people in the community will see it the way I do.  But anytime you create a piece of content with a real point of view, it can go the other way.

That is why I talk so much about needing the courage to create content.  We all have that voice.  This morning I am battling mine.

It’s time to push forward and push “publish” on this new video.  Here’s to hoping that it goes well…and I can continue to show my face at the grocery store.

Kirby Hasseman is the CEO of Hasseman Marketing.  Make sure you never miss an update.  Get on this HMC VIP email list.    Sign up to be an HMC VIP here.