In a recent article published on Entrepreneur.com, Barry Farber describes four steps that help people find luck in business.  His ideas include:

• Charming people
• Steering clear of unlucky situations
•  visualizing success 
• being different and daring

One of Barry Farber’s quotes taken from that article:

When I first met Don Levine, creator of G.I. Joe action figures, he was a guest on my New York City radio show. He told me that one of his secrets to success is to go after what he wants with passion and focus, and take action. Then he said, “Barry, fate is a hunter.” I never forgot those words. What he meant is that we create our own luck in life.

I read this and immediately thought of a couple of small North Dakota towns that are already taking Barry Farber’s advice.

• Garrison, North Dakota truly charms people with its annual Skydance Kite festival, the Walleye fishing contest, and its annual Dickens Festival during the winter holidays.  The town has visualized success by planning around these festivals.  Tourists come by the droves, and some come to stay.  In a state that faces a declining population, this ND town is thriving.
• Medora…such a lovely name for a different and daring place.  On the edge of the North Dakota badlands, Medora has made the most of its Teddy Roosevelt history and has grown to include seasonal musicals, several museums and an award-winning golf course that brings visitors from across the nation.  It’s all about being different and playing up what they’ve got.
• Same with Minot, which hosts the Norskfest, and Jamestown, which takes care of a herd of bison that includes three white buffalo.

Steering clear of unlucky situations is hard to do when you don’t know where you’re going.  Several small towns in North Dakota have developed strategic plans to help them stay viable and strong in the next few decades.  They also use it to help them visualize success and look for the types of industries that could thrive in their particular settings. 

In North Dakota, towns are beginning to market themselves in as many ways as possible.  They search for branding strategies that keep them in people’s minds, and they’re beginning to have success.  Maybe the good-hearted, strong-willed, hard-working people behind these efforts have never heard of Barry Farber; I don’t know.  I do know I’m proud of them for doing just what he says will bring success.