Introducing Digital for Rural: Purposeful regional development using digital means.
There are parts of my work that I love doing and want to keep doing more of, and I found one of those areas in using digital for project management and regional development. While primarily working in social media I was able to branch out and find this area of work while working with different clients on different projects and within different organisations and businesses.
It might be helping someone understand a digital tool or platform they’ve been avoiding, or working through a process that has become harder than it needs to be. Or it might be finding a way for an organisation to share information, connect with it’s community or bring people into the conversation.
As I said, this is a space I have worked in before and really enjoyed. The practical problem-solving, the conversations and the moment when something starts to make sense for someone have stayed with me.
That is what I want to build on through Digital for Rural, a new service within my work under my own name.
It also marks a slight change in direction. Although I am still available for social media consulting, I want to begin to move away from that and spend more of my time helping rural businesses, organisations and communities use digital tools and platforms in a way that makes a useful difference in terms of community and economic development.
Why I want to make this move
Working in both social media and as a general manager has taught me a lot about communication, audiences and how people find and engage with information. It has also made me increasingly interested in what happens beyond the post.
Say someone discovers a local organisation online, can they easily find the information they need? They want to volunteer, is there a straightforward way to get involved? A business introduces a new system, does the team have the confidence and support to use it? For a local shire, that might mean helping residents find information about services more easily, simplifying online event registrations or giving people who can’t attend a community meeting another way to contribute.
Those are the questions I want to spend more time working on. It is about understanding or researching the intended audience and making things as efficient and successful as possible.
Through my communications work, my experience in business and my involvement within community organisations, I’ve seen how closely these connect. The way we organise information affects peoples time. The way we introduce technology affects whether it gets used. The way we ask for feedback affects who gets heard.
I enjoy working through these challenges with people. Having already had opportunities to do this kind of work, I know it’s a direction I want to pursue deliberately.
Why rural matters
I want to stay connected to agriculture and continue advocating for rural communities. That remains central to the work I want to do.
Being based in Wongan Hills shapes how I think about digital tools and the promises made about them.
A solution needs to account for busy seasons, limited time, different levels of confidence and the person who will be responsible for keeping it running. It also needs to consider people who face connectivity barriers or need another way to access information.
Introducing something new carries a cost in time and attention, even when the tool itself is free. There needs to be a worthwhile reason for asking people to make that effort.
I want to help organisations make those decisions thoughtfully, then support people to put them into practice.
If you’re part of a rural business or community organisation, I’d love to hear what feels harder than it should. What would you like to make easier for your team, your volunteers or the people you serve? You can book a free 15 minute consultation to talk things over here.
