Invest Rural
Far from needing our charity, rural businesses and communities need our support and investment in the long term. It can be as simple as one small purchase at a time.
In April 2019 I stood on the podium in front of a national audience in Melbourne explaining why rural towns are important to ALL Australians. Purposely, I wore an outfit purchased from various rural communities across Victoria and NSW. My key message was that, while rural communities only represent ten percent of our overall population, they provide essential service and social hubs to our farmers that produce food and fibre for 100 percent of our population and a good part of the overseas population as well.
There are so many great things about living and working in a rural community but unfortunately, we only tend to hear about the not so good parts as evidenced by recent headlines.
Rural communities are no stranger to adversity.
Parts of just about every state and territory have been caught up in drought, followed by extensive bushfires late last year, and no doubt there will be more fires, droughts and floods to come. This is part of rural life.
While incredibly successful in attracting much needed donations, the headline posts and media articles shouting that Australia is ‘ON FIRE!’ has also had an adverse effect. In addition to the tragic impact on those directly affected by the fires, many rural businesses and communities not directly impacted have found themselves fighting for economic survival because tourists and customers have been scared away.
Sadly, this is a trend that I’ve noticed since Black Saturday in 2009. During our inevitable hot summers, city people become nervous about venturing out into rural areas despite the advantages of modern technology in advising us of emergency situations. Headlines about previous adverse events continue to linger long into the future.
And yet, so many city people relocate to rural areas, investing in properties and businesses with great outcomes. We don’t hear so much about their positive stories.
Positive use of social media to shine a light on small rural businesses.
What I am heartened by is the positive use of social media to engage with customers Australia wide and shine a light on small rural businesses. While most communities have their own Buy Local page and Australian Made has been around for decades, this has been the first time that national campaigns driven by volunteers have really captured the public’s attention.
Yes, it is ironic that, once again, a response to adversity is driving these activities.
It started with One Day Closer to Rain – Rural Cottage Crafts. ‘This page has been started to allow those in rural Australia to sell their home-made crafts. A chance to remove the geographic barrier of face to face sales and an opportunity to support those working hard to provide for their family,’ explains the founder Cassandra McLaren from rural New South Wales. Started in May 2018 specifically for drought support to farmers, this new Facebook Group was introduced in October 2019 to promote sales. In just a few short months membership has grown to 230,000.
What I love are the rural family stories of where they live, what they produce – everything from seeds to food, art, jewellery, furniture etc - and how much this platform has raised their sales.
‘Your support means the world to us.’
‘Your support means the world to us, like it does for many of the crafters on this page so thank you kindly,’ says Angela Nason from far north Queensland in one of her posts. Others gratefully advise that they have sold out of stock and are madly working to replenish.
Along similar lines #buyfromthebush also started up in October 2019 in response to the drought. Thanks to the media savviness of founder, Grace Brennan, this hashtag has also captured the public’s imagination growing quickly with 207,000 Instagram followers and 178,000 on Facebook.
‘A showcase of the beautiful things available to buy from rural towns facing drought. A small way to invest in their future!’ says the page introduction.
"Our community won't survive on charity. It will survive on good business."
And how refreshing to see Grace deliver New South Wale’s Australia Day address so eloquently with a rural focus. As a fashion designer in Boorowa put it, 'Our community won't survive on charity. It will survive on good business.'
Like most other rural people when asked why they do what they do and live where they live, I bet that Grace like many others would tell you it is because they love living in rural Australia. The good parts still outweigh the bad.
‘Through the lens of a city girl's eye I saw mateship, love, devotion and resilience like I had never seen it before.’
More recently, a Shop 2 Support Bushfire Communities of Australia Facebook Group has popped up in response to the bushfires attracting over 34,000 members. Time wise, this has significantly stretched the group’s volunteer creator and administrator, Victorian based Leah Rinaldi, as she also struggles to cope with her own family and business commitments.
The Empty Esky Facebook page's quest from a Melbourne base is to encourage followers to visit a country town ravaged by bushfire with out taking supplies and to stock up once there to bring business back to the townships.
All these platforms are giving rural businesses a powerful voice and I salute the people behind them. It takes hours of dedication with no financial reward to maintain these sites.
Power of authentic stories
As a great believer in the power of authentic stories that I consistently share, it has been so inspiring to see individual business starting to tell their own stories and share those of others in their community. Not everyone has the gift of the gab or a dab way with words and it is lovely to read Gippsland Jersey’s posts on fellow dairy farmers, the Farmers’ Markets, and more recently, the impact of the fires on their community.
We can all help to share each other’s stories.
Tough times will continue to come and will go all that much quicker if we all pull together. What rural communities need is your investment in their long-term sustainability, through both the good and bad times.
Despite being created in response to adversity, all of these social media platforms are pure gold and full of so much positivity. I encourage you to use them to plan your next trip, buy a gift, or just to learn more about our awesome rural businesses and communities. We might even entice you to permanently escape that peak hour commute to embrace the many positives of a rural lifestyle!
Kerry Anderson is author of Entrepreneurship: It’s Everybody’s Business and a Blog series entitled Rural Towns Fighting Back. Her next quest is to publish more articles and a book sharing how rural businesses and communities have reinvented themselves post disaster. Partner enquiries most welcome to help fund and share this research.
How has your business or community recovered from a past disaster – flood, fire, drought, economic? I’d love to interview you. Please message me with your contact details.