Plan Your Small Business Saturday With These Three Tips

While it’s no secret that retailers – that’s you – have been busy preparing for the busiest shopping season of the year for months, many customers don’t officially begin until just following Thanksgiving. Fortunately, the Saturday that follows your festive feast is one to celebrate being a small business while also welcoming customers to your store to officially kick off the holiday shopping season. Thanks to Small Business Saturday – founded in 2010 as a way to encourage consumers to shop local, small businesses – millions of consumers are shopping small the Saturday following Thanksgiving… with more and more supporting this fantastic day as each year passes.

To help make this year’s Small Business Saturday – November 28, 2015 – a huge success, discover three best practices that are practically turn-key for you to use for your retail business.

Download Free Marketing Materials

What’s free nowadays? Not much. But the folks at Small Business Saturday don’t think that’s fair… especially for you, hardworking small business owners! Their official website, ShopSmall.com, offers free marketing materials to help promote Small Business Saturday while also promoting your unique, small business by giving you the chance to personalize them… for – you guessed it – free! ShopSmall.com offers you this and more. Use these resources as a way to help leverage attention for your store while also becoming part of a day that is nationally recognized. Leaning on the national media attention Small Business Saturday will undoubtedly gain, this is your chance to be a part of something huge. Don’t miss out on taking advantage of these free resources and free exposure… it’s designed to help you gain more visibility and more customers, after all.

Register & Promote Your Business for Small Business Saturday

Being a part of Small Business Saturday is a way to kick off the holiday season while also celebrating your small business and welcoming customers to do the same. To help do this, be sure to register your unique business on ShopSmall.com in an effort to gain additional attention from consumers looking to shop small in your community on November 28^th. It’s almost like having your own PR team among the Small Business Saturday team… they’re helping to promote you! Another thought? Reach out to your local media to gain even more exposure. Let them know you’ll be a part of Small Business Saturday and encourage them to help promote your own small business story while also helping to promote this valuable day.

Rally Your Community

“The more, the merrier” is a popular saying that could not be truer when it comes to Small Business Saturday. To help make this November 28^th a success, rally your area small businesses to join you.  One community that did just this was the City of Douglas, Georgia and their Main Street Merchant Association, who organized a selfie event that let people show support for small businesses with more than a purchase. The Delair-Edison neighborhoods in Maryland organized a scavenger hunt at participating, Small Business Saturday businesses to help bring more visibility to their stores, restaurants and other small businesses – and did so successfully. Both of these ideas are available for you to use at ShopSmall.com, plus discover some other ideas to rally your community together, as well.

From small town mayors to the President of the United States, Small Business Saturday is supported by public officials and consumers alike for a reason… small businesses are a vital part of our economy. You and I know, however, that they also help to bring charm, character and community to neighborhoods nationwide. So why not celebrate being small by being a part of something big?

Join me in celebrating YOU this November 28^th for Small Business Saturday.