![\"Art](\"https:\/\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8320\/8035947559_e984c3a121_n.jpg\")
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\nBusiness Saturday from 2011.
Seen in Portland, Maine.\u00a0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
Small Business Saturday<\/a>\u00a0is the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Nov 24, 2012. It was started as a reaction to the excesses of Black Friday, which almost entirely benefit major chain retailers. It is promoted most visibly by large corporations that have many small businesses as customers, including American Express, FedEx and ClearChannel this year.<\/p>\n The tag line is “Shop Small” and you’ll see #shopsmall<\/a> used as a hashtag on many social media sites.<\/p>\n Any small business can participate. There are customize-able marketing materials available on the Small Business Saturday site<\/a>.<\/p>\n Any community can participate as a group. The site provides materials in the Rally Your Town<\/a> section.<\/p>\n There is also a section to help consumers find local businesses. This is less important for small towns, where most people know what stores are in town; they just need to be reminded to shop at home.\u00a0For small towns, the big competitor isn’t the big chain store next door as much as it is the Shopping Trip to the Big City.<\/b> That’s where we lose most of our sales.<\/p>\n What kind of local promotions make sense for small towns on Small Business Saturday?<\/p>\n 1. Town-wide promotions of the enormous range of products available locally\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
Host some live music or an art display. Feature local foods or regional treats. Many towns do giveaways and holiday celebrations with a shopping theme.\u00a0<\/div>\n
Don’t have much shopping in your town? Band together with a nearby town or two for a tour that ties together all your strengths.\u00a0<\/div>\n
![](\"https:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-AV8WqpmC4Mo\/UKlRG0i-gVI\/AAAAAAAAEow\/H5WAYSaA1uk\/s1600\/shift-your-shopping-2012-logo.png\"){kind=logo}
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