This morning a woman in a store asked me if I was planning on shopping this Black Friday. My answer as always was a resounding “no!” This year in particular, with a very active two-year-old and another on the way in a few short months, the idea holds no appeal for me whatsoever. But more importantly than that, I’m saving my time, energy and money for Small Business Saturday on November 30th. As a small business owner myself who works mainly with and for other small business owners, I’m very passionate about this.
Created a few years back, the movement has gained impressive momentum and helped small businesses generate an estimated $5.5 billion in revenue. Not surprisingly, social media has played a large part in the success of Small Business Saturday and the Facebook page alone has 3.2 million Likes as of today. Here are three ways you can use social media to support the small businesses in your community, this Saturday and every day:
– Like and follow your favorite small businesses on social media, then Share/retweet their posts in order to help spread the word about sales, promotions, and other efforts to boost business.
– Tag your favorite small businesses in social media posts in order to help build their followings and publicize their offerings to new potential customers.
– Utilize hashtags like #SmallBizSat and #ShopSmall in your social media posts encourage other people to join the movement.
Happy shopping, and happy holidays!