Bio for Introductions
Becky McCray is a lifelong small-town entrepreneur. As co-founder of SaveYour.Town, she shares insights from her real-world experience as a business owner and cattle rancher. Her practical perspective is featured at her highly-ranked website, Small Biz Survival, and in her award-winning book, Small Town Rules. She’s been featured and quoted in books, newspapers, magazines, blogs, podcasts and university publications. She makes her home base in Hopeton, Oklahoma, a community of 30 people. Her goal is to deliver practical steps you can put into action right away to shape the future of your town.
Bio for Convincing Others
(also known as the Speaker One Sheet)
Need a bio to share with potential sponsors, a committee, or others helping plan your event? Share this printable bio with them.
Photo
If you need a photo of me for your publication, I recommend this one by photographer Cody Johnson of Tulsa, provided with permission for promotional use:
Here is the 300dpi higher-resolution version (20 MB)
These photos not working for what you need? Email me or use the contact form. I’ll do my best to find the right image at a resolution that works for you.
What I believe: the Small Town Creed
You can use this Small Town Creed to energize your people before or during your event. It’s available freely for download at IdeaFriendly.com
Here is the JPG version for social sharing, newsletters, etc:
Click to enlarge
You can also share the PDF version for printing.
You can also share this narrated video version to build excitement.
Website and Social Media Links
SaveYour.Town – my collaboration with Deb Brown
SmallBizSurvival.com – my blog, ongoing since 2006
LinkedIn: Becky McCray
Twitter: @BeckyMcCray, @SBSurvival, @SaveYourTown
Instagram: @BeckyMcCray, @SaveYourTown
Facebook: Small Biz Survival, SaveYour.Town
Bonus Downloads
Need a gift, download or informational item to share with your attendees? Offer them one of these PDFs.
101 Ways to start more tiny businesses in your small town
Video
Want a video from me to add to your web page, share on social or generate more attention? Try one of these.
Small Town Creed narrated video – highly recommend sharing this one
Media appearances and interviews
Articles Worth Sharing
Events that use the Whova app often want to share articles. Here are a few of mine.
Sorry I didn’t read your “rural is dying” article
Want to help save your small town? Start your own business.
The small towns that survive will be the ones that are open to new ideas
99% of the best things you can do for your town don’t require anyone’s permission
Logos
SaveYour.Town, my firm logo:
Idea Friendly, my signature method:
Book Cover
Some events like to use the cover of my book in their articles or publications. Here’s the cover for Small Town Rules.
Slightly larger version 782×1125 pixels
More details on the book, Small Town Rules
Talking Points for Podcasts and Interviews
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Lifelong entrepreneur and cattle rancher. I don’t just talk about rural issues; I live them.
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Co-founder of SaveYour.Town (you say “Save Your Dot Town”–it’s our name and our website)
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Author of the book Small Town Rules
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Former small town city administrator, nonprofit executive, and liquor store owner
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Lives in a community of 30 people
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The research-backed Idea Friendly Method helps communities thrive no matter what obstacles they face
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Put ideas into action with less formality, less overhead, no more committees, no more meetings, no more plans
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Small but meaningful participation by everyone
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Rather than voting, consensus emerges from action
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Community is our goal
- In an increasingly urban world, small towns still have a future
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The small towns that survive will be the ones that are open to new ideas
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Major trends in business, society and technology are positive for small towns
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Population is not the only measure of success for a town
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You don’t have to settle for a normal business
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The 5 Ts of Innovative Business Models are Tiny, Temporary, Together, Traveling, and Tech enabled
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Small steps beat big leaps in business
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Shed businesses and divided spaces mean more opportunity for everyone
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Connect people with people for innovation, connect people with resources to capitalize on innovation
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No one creates jobs in a vacuum
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It’s not about gathering ideas or building consensus or writing a plan
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There is no plan, no master list of ideas, no checklist of one-size-fits-all answers
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It is more about noticing possibilities than focusing on problems
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It’s about unleashing people to take action
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Get started today with chalk, fabric, magnets, lights and crack art
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99% of the best things you can do for your community don’t require anyone’s permission
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Negative people think they’re helping
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Pay the fine and do it anyway
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Small towns are really fluid networks of ever-changing alliances
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It will never go back to the way it was; you have to start from here and go forward
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Us vs. Them is a myth
About SaveYour.Town
SaveYour.Town believes small towns can be saved by their own people using their existing assets. Deb Brown and Becky McCray joined forces in May 2015 to help small towns and rural communities thrive. They deliver speeches and presentations internationally, lead site visits and community brainstorming sessions, and create online videos and short courses of practical steps that can be put into action right away.
About Small Biz Survival
SmallBizSurvival.com publishes practical articles for rural small businesses. It was founded in January 2006 by Becky McCray from Oklahoma. Over the years, it has achieved top ranking among small business blogs on sites like Technorati, Invesp BlogRank and BizHumm, and it continues to appear on lists of top small business blogs. For her work as publisher, McCray has been named one of the Power Players in Technology Business Media and a Small Business Influencer Journalist four times.
Other Stuff
Need something I didn’t think of? Email me or use the contact form, and I’ll get it for you.