The initiative was established by Grace Brennan to encourage city buyers to support country businesses during the drought.

However, the initiative, which was run on Facebook and Instagram, has also helped regional businesses throughout the coronavirus shutdown.

Some central west businesses that were featured such as Fiona Schofield Millinery received a huge influx in sales, while others that used the hashtags such as Get Stitched Up Sewing Solutions also increased their exposure to a wider customer base.

Milliner Fiona Schofield said she was caught off guard when her business was featured during the coronavirus shut down and it took a week to go through the surge of online orders and emails.

"There's been a few of us locally that have been featured, it has generated exposure to new customers who would have potentially not otherwise seen my work," Mrs Schofield said.

"My business was featured on both the Instagram and Facebook pages for Buy from the Bush.

"I've been inundated, it's been wonderful."

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She said she received an inbox full of hat requests, messages and compliments.

"It was almost overwhelming," she said.

"I'm still working away and they are still coming through."

Mrs Schofield said the requests were for winter hats although there were some people from Queensland who ordered straw hats.

"I've had a couple of people contact me about weddings that were postponed but are now going ahead," she said.

Get Stitched Up Sewing Solutions run by sole proprietor Lisa Martin has also been getting some extra work by using the Buy from the Bush hashtag even though her McNamara Street business wasn't featured.

Mrs Martin who does clothing alterations as well as sewing a variety of items said there were a mix of requests.

"I've had a lawyer from Sydney send me a silk dress to repair," she said.

Other people wanted items such as sock protectors, that protect against burrs sticking to socks and sand getting into boots.

The requests, as well as a separate tea cosy initiative enabled her to keep working when her shop was closed for six-weeks due to coronavirus restrictions.

The shop has since re-opened and Mrs Martin is once again accepting fittings for clothing alterations but has precautions in place.

Results from a report into the first four months of the Buy from the Bush initiative were released on Friday.

Buy From The Bush and Facebook Australia commissioned the report, which found a $5 million revenue growth in sales for featured small businesses with each featured business experiencing a 300 per cent sales increase on average.

The report also found that three quarters of featured businesses now ship interstate, more than double the share that did so before the campaign.

Among the featured business owners, 97 per cent were women compared to a national average of 34 per cent, and 45 per cent of business owners learned a new skill, including marketing and IT.

"Its evidence of how powerful community driven action, enabled by digital technologies like Instagram and Facebook, can be," said Buy from the Bush founder Grace Brennan.

"It has changed lives. With ongoing investment I believe Buy From The Bush has the potential to significantly improve economic and social outcomes for rural Australia in the long term."

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