The announcement of Thanksgiving Day openings from big retailers like WalMart, Macy’s and Target, whose workers will not be giving thanks for their boss, is one more reason to shop local on Small Business Saturday. Start Small Business Saturday with a cup of coffee from your local coffee shop, spend the day shopping local businesses in your community and take a break by grabbing a bite to eat at an independently owned restaurant or deli. Include all the Mom Biz owners who are working from home on that list too.
Here’s 5 big ideas to support Small Business Saturday and shop local the day after Thanksgiving:
5 Big Ideas To Shop Local and Support Small Business Saturday
- Tell your friends. Help out a small biz by posting, liking and sharing on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. Pin from an etsy shop, “check-in” on Facebook, post a picture while shopping or use Facebook Live to share your Small Biz Saturday shopping adventures.
- LIKE and share Small Business Saturday on Facebook. Join the conversation and find out about special offers and events by searching @SmallBusinessSaturday, which was founded by American Express in 2010.
- Write and share a review. It only takes minutes to help out your favorite local business (which includes home-based biz owners) by writing a review on their Facebook page. Head on over to yelp while you’re in a “support small biz” kind of mood and give your fav local restaurant a 5 star shout out, or write a review on Amazon for an indie-author. They’re counting on you.
- Use the power of the hashtag. Find and share Shop Local and Small Biz Saturday offers and events via social media using hashtags, which link your conversation to a worldwide community of people who are talking about the same subject. Search, share and gain new likes and followers by using hashtags: #WomenOwnedBiz #ShopSmall #ShopLocal #SmallBizSat #MomBiz #HomeBased and #WAHM (work at home mom).
- Remember your Mary Kay lady. How can you support the small biz community of direct sellers who live right in your backyard? It’s pretty simple…support your friends before you head to the Big Box store or retail chain. With companies offering everything from jewelry to vitamins, there’s plenty of direct sales businesses to choose from and many of them offer online sales during the Thanksgiving weekend. Better yet, if you love entertaining during the holidays invite a “party girl or guy” over and turn your home into a shop local storefront for your girlfriends, with a glass of wine on the side. A fun night connecting with your BFF’s impacts your community in ways you probably never thought of. The ripple spreads from the direct sales rep, who started her part-time biz to pay for her daughter’s dance lessons, to the dance school owner who now has a new student, to the local market and wine store where you shopped for light bites, to your neighbor who works for UPS and delivers your order. Oh, and all those basket auctions your local non-profits and schools are using to raise funds? Direct sellers and small businesses paid for them.
Lynn Bardowski is an award-winning entrepreneur, speaker and best selling author of Success Secrets of a Million Dollar Party Girl. She speaks to global audiences about Direct Sales Success, Vision and Social Selling and is a resource for press, media and bloggers. Like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.
