Get Your Business Ready for Small Business Saturday

[#1]

You know about Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Well, for the second year in a row, American Express is sponsoring Small Business Saturday, a nationwide effort to get people to forgo the mall and instead, shop small during the post-Thanksgiving weekend. Scheduled for November 26, during one of the peak shopping times of the year, Small Business Saturday is poised to direct lots of retail traffic and revenue right in the direction of the millions of U.S. small businesses.

Last year, Small Business Saturday had terrific results, both in sales and attention:

• 1.2 million Facebook users “Liked” the Small Business Saturday Page at facebook.com/smallbusinesssaturday
• 30,000 tweets were sent using the hashtags #smallbusinesssaturday or #smallbizsaturday
• 200,000 consumers registered their American Express cards to receive $25 statement credits when they shopped at a small business on Small Business Saturday
• 41 elected officials declared November 27 “Small Business Saturday”

Small Business Saturday 2011 looks to be as big as or bigger than last year's day was. Is your small business ready? Thankfully, Constant Contact has plenty of resources and coaching available to you:

• We've designed special templates for you to use that will encourage your customers to visit you on November 26. (We also have special Black Friday and Cyber Monday templates.) You can find them under "Offer-Based Campaigns" in the template section when you log in to your account.
• Every Wednesday from now until November 23, we'll be hosting a special edition of our Holiday Promotions Planning and Design webinar that will include special tips and advice for taking advantage of Small Business Saturday.
• Want help planning your promotions? Download our promotional worksheet or our to-do calendar and start creating a special offer that will drive customers to your door.
• Make Small Business Saturday a real event: Our Event Marketing tool will help you get the word out, and will help you to know how many people are planning to stop by.
• Our personal coaches can help you use email marketing, social media, or any of our other tools better. They can be reached at 866-289-2101.
• Special episodes of our Problems Solved! podcast series discuss how to make the most of mobile technologies, social media, and online reviews to attract customers.
• Keep reading this blog and our Support Blog throughout the month to learn more about how you can use Small Business Saturday to drive traffic to your business.
• Share your thoughts, plans, and questions with other small business owners in our Community forum devoted to Small Business Saturday.

And that's not all. American Express' Small Business Saturday Facebook Page (facebook.com/ShopSmall) is an active hub of activity where you can find free tools that can help you make November 26 your biggest sales day of the year. Share the Page with your friends, family, customers, clients, and colleagues. And tweet about this special day with the hashtag #smallbizsat to join in the conversation.

Small Business Saturday 2011 is going to be huge. We hope you'll help us get the word out.

What are your plans for Small Business Saturday? Share your thoughts here or on our Facebook Page.

[#2]

I am always interested in sharing any unique ideas. Although I am a very small (veteran owned) business owner, I have some of the same goals and dreams as the large companies. Thanks Ron of Music & Special Events