If you are a small business owner then you’ve probably heard of “Small Business Saturday,” a promotion started by American Express to help support small businesses. Their Facebook page declares “First there was Black Friday, then Cyber Monday. Now, there’s the 2nd annual Small Business Saturday, the day people support small businesses. Pledge to Shop SmallSM on Nov 26th. If millions of Americans shop small, it will be huge.”

Obviously Amex isn’t doing this out of the kindness of their hearts. Since they receive a percentage of sales purchased using the Amex card, their efforts to drive up sales at local retailers also helps their bottom line. No offense to Amex but if you can, do try to pay with cash. The fees charged to business owners for accepting credit cards can be as high as 5% of sales. Regardless it’s a great promotion for small businesses and an opportunity to be part of something BIG. It’s basically free advertising… in addition to encouraging consumers to shop at small businesses there is also free advertising collateral that can be printed from their Facebook page. As an aside, there is also the opportunity to get $100 in free Facebook advertising if you sign up for the Amex Facebook App.

So don’t spend all of your holiday budget at big retailers on Black Friday. Save some for small local businesses on Saturday. Remember, when you shop at a small, local retailer more money stays in your local economy, you spend less on gas, and you help your neighbors' businesses. Those who shop small with their Amex card will get a $25 credit on their Amex credit card statement, a nice little perk during the very expensive holiday season.

https://www.facebook.com/SmallBusinessSaturday