On Tuesdays at noon, Columbia small businesses take the spotlight on Facebook during "Live at Miss Alison's." The Facebook Live video podcast features a different local business each week, said Alison Liebgott, who hosts the show and owns Miss Alison's Studio, 430 Walnut St., second floor.

"The goal is to help encourage the businesses in the community to get more involved with each other and start networking," Liebgott stated.

She got the idea after serving as a guest on her brother's podcast and realizing the power of the medium. "My brother started his own marketing firm about a year ago, and he invited me to be on his podcast, and then I had a friend in Lititz who was also doing a podcast, and my friend mentioned that everybody should be doing this," Liebgott noted. "It's a great way to get people connected and get people to meet each other and learn about their neighbors."

She put a message on Facebook to see if people might be interested in being featured on her show, and the response was immediately positive.

"Within the first two days of my post, I had completely booked out every Tuesday for six months," she recalled. "I had no idea people were going to latch onto it like that, but I'm really excited about it."

She launched her first podcast in December and is currently booked solid through October. "My videos now average between 1,500 and 2,000 views withing 24 hours of posting, and it grows every week," she said.

She is especially proud of upcoming episodes that will feature the vendors of the new Columbia Market House. Although she is focusing on Columbia businesses, she has had interest from neighboring towns, including Wrightsville, Marietta and Lititz, and she plans to bring businesses from those areas onto her show as well.

Filming is done in Liebgott's studio, and the video goes live at noon each Tuesday. "People can tune in on Facebook and ask questions then, or they can watch it later if they can't catch it live," she explained.

The podcast gives viewers a chance to learn about the community, but it also provides support for small businesses, which is needed more than ever, she said.

"It's a scary thing to be a small business owner right now," Liebgott stated. "It's been a hard year. Here in Columbia, especially, we have a lot of mom-and-pop shops, and we should be celebrating them. I wanted to do something to help them spread the word about everything they're about."

To tune in to the podcast or to view episodes from previous weeks, search for "Live at Miss Alison's" on Facebook. A full list of podcasts, including upcoming episodes, can be found at http://www.missalisons.com.