My friends Michael and ElizaBeth Black are battling the bumbling economy with good old-fashioned success: They're adding staff to their business! Last night's MDL reports that Black Studios of Rutland has just added Melissa Hansen to its now five-person staff. That's a 25% staff increase! Plus, in Rutland, population 200, the Blacks now probably account for 30% of private-sector employment.
How can the Blacks be such an economic powerhouse operating from an old church in Rutland? Lots of hustle, of course, working weddings and taking senior photos all over eastern South Dakota. The Internet also helps: like lots of photographers, Michael and ElizaBeth use a blog to reach customers and update us on their best work and other fun they're having.
Making it in business means having good connections. Nice thing about the Internet is that "connections" no longer means being friends with the banker. It means good signal and the ability to reach clients everywhere who truly appreciate the quality of your work.
Hide Fido (by Andy Horowitz)
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I coined Noem as the ‘Palin of South Dakota’ when she ran for the state
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3 hours ago
Thanks for the plug Cory.
ReplyDeleteRutland is a wee bit smaller than you describe. There well may be 200 residents with a Rutland address, but the town itself is much smaller.
Rutland actually has many advantages over bigger towns: we are a destination for seniors. The church building itself is unique. We can get many different looks within a short walk of our front door. We have a school and a convenience store.
Small business is what grows the economy. We believe strongly in taking charge of our own future. By hiring talented employees, we work smarter not harder.
Just because we live in Rutland does not mean that we are not part of the Madison Community as well. We buy much of our groceries at Sunshine, our cars at Prostrollo Auto Mall and our furniture at Montgomery's. We both graduated from Madison. Our kids are involved in softball and swimming lessons. You'll find us up at the Community Center working with a trainer upstairs at least twice a week. We go to church in Madison. I graduated from DSU.
We believe that this area is the greatest place to live.
We aren't going to listen to the gloom and doom of the national media. We are going to serve others in our community and make a little money along the way.
We have one of the greatest jobs in the world.