9 Tips to Make the Most of Small Business Saturday

On November 26, small businesses will benefit from the added attention and media coverage surrounding the second annual Small Business Saturday event. This holiday season, they’ll also have lots of competition from other local retailers for a finite number of consumer dollars.

Here are a few tips to help small business owners make the most of Small Business Saturday and the 2011 holiday retail season.

Before

1) Participate in small business networking communities like Biznik.com.

There are lots of digital communities where owners and entrepreneurs can connect and share best practices, but Biznik.com has emerged as a unique social network that combines the best of an online platform with localized community events and human contact.

2) Reach out to local media.

Many local newspapers run "weekly deals." Contact your community’s local paper or Patch reporter to see if you can get a little ink for your business’ holiday shopping promotions.

3) Share Your Story Online

Google and American Express created a great free tool called “My Business Story” that lets retailers create their very own professional quality video for use on YouTube, social networks and business websites. Take advantage of this now – the video will come in handy throughout the year.

4) Establish a Foursquare or Gowalla Check-In

Geo-location services, which continue to gain popularity with consumers, are a great way to provide incentives and build customer loyalty. Register with Foursquare, Gowalla or a similar service and provide special deals and discounts for customers who “check in” when they visit your business.

Day Of

5) Work with other small businesses in your area.

Alone, it can be hard for a small business to compete with major corporations. Together, small businesses are unstoppable. Contact some non-competing businesses serving customers in your area and offer to publicize their products or services if they publicizing your services to their customers. Post a map to participating businesses in every store.

6) Offer Unique Items That Make Good Gifts

Let’s face it – many of your customers on Small Business Saturday will be buying for someone else. Highlight products that can’t be bought elsewhere and offer suggestions on how to package them up for the perfect holiday gift.

7) Create mobile checkouts.

Extend the number of customers you can help at any given time with the Square Card Reader. Square makes creating a mobile checkout as simple as downloading an app and attaching the reader to your mobile phone. You can also use this capability throughout the year to take your store’s goods to local farmers markets or arts fairs.

After

8) Build a Small Business Saturday Community & Mailing List

Ask customers to share their email address and phone number for a special Small Business Saturday mailing list. Take photos throughout the day and then post them to Facebook. Make sure people know you’ll be posting the pictures—that way they’ll visit and tag themselves later. Connect with this group via email or SMS a couple times a year to update them on your latest specials and offer them an early chance at next year's Small Business Saturday promotions.

9) Listen to Your Employees

Your employees are one of your biggest assets. Ask them for feedback on your Small Business Saturday efforts.  With their help, map out some ideas for next year’s campaign while Small Business Saturday is still fresh in your mind.

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Matt Ashworth is the head of the Seattle Technology practice, where he provides business-to-business and product PR counsel to Hewlett Packard, T-Mobile, Hitachi and others. Follow him on Twitter at @ashmatty.