MAIN STREET HARDY

Posts Tagged ‘marketing’

Why even offer Free WiFi (muniwireless) along Main Street in Hardy Arkansas?  The only  thing that retains value is what the local community is willing to invest in terms of their interest and content. If local businesses, organizations, civic groups and schools  in the local community, in short, are willing to create local content for the local network, post local ads, if they see the service as part of the fabric of the community. That is part of the idea of Free muniwirelessWiFi, because our idea – would first point all users to the Main Street Hardy Online Resource website. This then helps promote not only the town but the local merchants and community as well. Is this self serving? Not really, its self promoting of our town ! Besides, if we don’t do it, no one else will.

 No one can provide better local content or advertise better to the local community than the community itself. Everyone big wants to get local — Google, Microsoft, Citysearch (IAC), Yahoo, etc.. As the world goes digital and online, traditional media – newspapers. Local TV and radio, are rapidly disappearing from the landscape. They are losing a crucial source of revenue — local advertising (classifieds) — to the Internet and these megaportals. At the same time, these same companies have a great challenge — how do they capture the local ‘from above,” as a top-down play? On the web, everything is driven by reputation. Do we trust this seller on eBay? Well look at his rating. Want to buy a book? How are people reviewing it? How in turn are people rating the reviewers? All of this is important to the local area.

Everyone must decide, do I trust someone working for a multibillion dollar global portal to create content, for local knowledge, or do I trust a local?  What are the best restaurants in a given neighborhood? I will trust a local resident if given the choice. Their informed opinions will be given up freely, out of a desire to share. This is grassroots, not Astroturf, and that is what Friends Of Hardy Arkansas are trying to do and want for Hardy !

With the localization of content, services, and advertisements, with more and more devices GPS enabled, with the growing ability to create local ‘intranets’ for buildings, neighborhoods, towns, cities, via new wireless infrastructure deployments, it will be increasingly easy for communities to segment themselves from the rest of the web, and capture the value that is now otherwise feeding these web behemoths. If Google’s model in creating muniwireless as part of The White Space Coalition depends in no small part on local ads, what is to stop the locals from building their own networks and capturing the ad revenue themselves?

As social computing goes local, as the internet grows pervasive, as everyone is brought onto the grid, muniwireless has a bright future. Cell phones and the new Ipad even offer WiFi connection. Communities will have wireless networks as public amenities. They will serve a number of functions, from the very basic — offering the ability to surf the web, check email, to supporting local businesses through a local community portal with local content and providing better security. In the process, the web will become increasingly localized. As always, and from the beginning, we know the end points, and as always, it’s getting there that matters, the details of it. Who will be the ones trying, failing, and learning?  Who will build these municipal wireless networks? Will it be the large incumbent telecoms, the Verizons and Comcasts of the world? Or will it be people like you and me? If in the end the value of the community network is derived from the activity of the people using it, we know the answer.

The Friends Of Hardy Arkansas are motivated and interested in bringing Free WiFi to the Main Street area of Hardy. We feel it is an important step toward growth in our community and for the business tourist who stop here. In the future if proven sustainable it may even grow outward to cover the whole town – who knows. Just imagine the possibilities. We would love to get your comments about this below. Feel free to share with us.

Portions of this article are reprinted from Wired Towns website.

It seems some of the local business owners and associates figured out a way to ensure some extra business in this sometimes off season for shopping along the Main Street in Hardy.

What little trick is this you may ask? Well it seems that sometimes when the customers don’t seem to be coming to you, then it’s time to go to them. That is exactly what store owner Marc H., of the Ozark Classic Crafts Mall two associates Hal M. & Tracy M. representing, Etch Graphics and last but not least Page N., of For Mother Earth #2 did.

 They all headed up to Kennet, MO. to the Adelphian Civic Club Christmas Bazaar. This annual bazaar,  which took place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the American Legion Building,  hosted around 100 vendors from Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee, Illinois, and other surrounding areas, offering Christmas decorations, wood items, ceramics, food, clothing and accessories, jewelry, candles, and a variety of other items for a shopper’s interest.

Proceeds from the bazaar are used for annual scholarships to graduating Kennett High School seniors. The club also makes annual donations to the Alzheimer Association, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, American Red Cross, Center for Family Resources, Delta Children’s Home, Community Christmas Party, Good Neighbors, Kennett Swim Team, Sophomore Pilgrimage, Senior Companion VNA, United Way, MDA, Girl Scouts, Kennett Ministerial Alliance, and Salvation Army. 

Marc brought with him various craft products from many of his in store vendors. As well as some of his own custom products such as his personalized children’s music cd’s. Page brought beautiful handmade jewelry and scarfs as well as other products. Hal & Tracy introduced a new product that will be available at the Ozark Classic Crafts Mall, personlized dog tags and collars.  Everyone had a great time and promoted Hardy Arkansas at every chance they had. All in all it was a great experience.