5 Reasons to Participate in Small Business Saturday

Small Business Saturday 2012 is November 24th, less than 2 months away! If your a small business you might be teetering on the fence of whether you should participate in this annual "Shop Small" Extravaganza. Maybe you're a new entrepreneur. Perhaps you've heard rumors or noticed the television ads sponsored by American Express.

The time to leap off the fence is here and we've got 5 Reasons you should throw your hat in on Small Business Saturday!

1. Be a part of a Nationwide Campaign

American Express sponsors Small Business Saturday which means (drumroll)....MONEY! This is a huge nationwide marketing campaign pushing consumers (ie: YOUR customers) to shop their local businesses on Saturday, November 24th (Why that Saturday? Black Friday is the day before and Cyber Monday is not far behind). Think of how much it costs to run television ads, direct mail, run social media campaigns and spread the word - now imagine that ALL of that is being done for you. All you have to do is tell all of your customers and clients that you're participating and then be open for business that day.

2. FREE Marketing Resources to Help You Participate

The people who coordinate Small Business Saturday couldn't make it any easier to participate. And in fact they've even provided free professionally designed marketing materials, tools and resources. All of these great items can be found at www.shopsmall.com!

3. Get Exposure as a Participating Business on ShopSmall.com

As we get closer to Small Business Saturday, a really cool feature will be added to the ShopSmall website - a map showing people where to shop. If you're a business who accepts American Express (and I would advise that for this one day - figure out how to make that happen if you don't) then when you complete the form saying "Yes, my business is participating!" - your business will be listed on the map. This means when a local consumer looks for businesses to shop with on the site - you're there! Can you say more free advertisement????

4. Get Free Online Advertising

This is where the early bird really gets the worm! Right now you can go to ShopSmall.com and fill out a form to be included in free online advertising. American Express is providing free geo-targeted online ads that drive traffic to your Facebook page or website. The ads will be featured in the Small Business Saturday media plan in November. There are some limitations for the types of business who can receive the free ads and of course there are only so many ad slots available (but still lots by comparison) so again - be the early bird.

5.  One Hundred Million Reasons

That's how many people shopped small businesses last year on Small Business Saturday. Don't you want a piece of that action? Yes? Start thinking about a special or incentivised deal that you can offer just to the people who buy from you on that day. This isn't the time to offer the "same old same old." Really think about something that will bring people in and make them want to buy from your business on November 24th. Once you get people in the door, they are more likley to buy more and buy later so this is a fabulous opportunity you cannot afford to miss out on.