Small business Saturday is November 26th. The shopping day, which was created by our friends at American Express in 2010 to promote local businesses, always falls on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Your local business should take advantage of the attention given to small businesses

Small business Saturday is November 26th. The shopping day, which was created by our friends at American Express in 2010 to promote local businesses, always falls on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Your local business should take advantage of the attention given to small businesses this weekend to drive more customers to your place of business and SilverEdge has compiled five tips to help you have a successful Small Business Saturday!

1) Contact other non-competing small businesses in your city to ask how you can promote their Small Business Saturday activities. By cross promoting you can spread the message of Small Business Saturday much more effectively.

2) Get social. Send out social media posts with the hashtags #SmallBizSaturday #shopsmall or #shoplocal and add your city to drive local traffic. Make sure that your online profiles, like GooglePlaces, Yelp and YahooLocal, are up-to-date.

3) Create an in-store event for the day, but keep it simple. Offer day of discounts, complimentary gift wrapping or small tokens of appreciation like a chocolate at checkout. These thoughtful gestures emphasize to shoppers that they are making a positive impact by shopping small and local.

4) Let shoppers know about the impact of shopping local. A shift of just 10% of spending to independently-owned small businesses makes a huge impact on local wages. This means more people in your community are able to pay bills and spend at other local businesses.

5) Add a charitable cause to your message: become a drop off point for winter coats and gloves, offer a “holiday package of goods” that when purchased by customers goes directly to those in need, donate a percentage of Small Business Saturday sales to a local charity. This reminds customers what the holidays are really about and leaves a lasting impression on your patrons and your community.

However you choose to participate, remember to thank your customers for shopping small and supporting local business.