It's Time for Indy Biz to RISE UP!

Indy biz is in big trouble these days. They're disappearing fast. Small towns and traditional downtowns are nose-diving as well. Only metro areas seem to be holding on. The freewayexitminimallbigboxes are rolling like steamrollers. Is it a Red State take-over? (Whups, or is that Blue? I'm dyslexic. Which one is Texas? --That should set me straight.)

Why is indy biz hurting so bad?

It's not using any of the hyper-powerful sales tools that big biz is using. It's not using culture.

When I talk to indy biz owners I sense one main thing: panic and desperation (oh, that's two). And rigidity. Frozen in the headlights. They know only one thing: Quality. And they have that in spades. And great customer and human and employee relations. They HAVE culture, indeed they do. They're the SOURCE of it. But they don't USE it to survive, thrive and beat back the big boxes. Everything the Little Guy does has to make him money money money does it pay does it pay does it pay no time no time no time... Makes sense, coz if it doesn't work good now fast direct---they're gone. But panic never helps and we're losing them ever-faster.

How to stop the loss?

UNITE!



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Big Biz is singing ONE song, ALL together. The song of crap and power and image.

But indy biz could use image, too---and the truth---and win. Coz sometimes image is more than image---it's art. Big Biz will NEVER get that one.

Coz indy biz is the source of ART as well as culture.

Big Biz ties its message into everything every which way. Indy biz needs to also.

But indy biz is frozen out of mainstream media and all its tie-in opportunities.

It needs to create its own.

It needs to work together. It needs to unite in its diversity. It needs to wrench diversity away from exclusivity-politics and lobbyism once and for all.

Not just for convenience or survival but because that's where it gets its life. It needs to EXTEND its LIVING model beyond its usual range or it'll die. The world is bigger today, but indy biz still has what it takes to win, if only it will dare to use it.

Right now I usually see indy biz in specialty media---and often where little shops are competing against each other for scarce bucks. Rarely do they work together.

But their customers use them together.

For the most part. Some customers treat indy like it was big---they use it for identity and won't shop anywhere but in one certain little shop. That's not the future. Most people work a wider scope these days. Indy biz needs to reach beyond its neighborhood and usual suspects. It needs to go after GM, Time-Warner and all the Billion-Ton Weaklings out there. It can be done.