Black Friday and #SmallBusinessSaturday are rapidly approaching— which means there are SO. MANY. SALES. OUT. THERE.
You want to get great deals on the things you need— but you also want to put your dollars towards a business you believe in.
How do you balance it all?
How do you show local business owners that you care, even if you can’t afford to snatch up every single great deal that you see?
I’ll let you in on a little secret.
It’s not just about the sales.
Mega-retailers like Target and Best Buy try to motivate you to spend your money on their products, right now, whether or not you actually need them.
Small business owners know that your time and money is valuable — and we want to form connections with our customers before urging them to buy.
We want to make sure that our services can be helpful to you, and our products can support you.
So as valuable as one-time sales and purchases are for us, connections and feedback are perhaps even more important for small businesses.
That’s where you come in.
You can support your favorite small businesses—
- The coffee shop down the street
- Your cousin’s new Facebook Marketplace page
- The plumber you call every time your sink leaks
- Your kids’ favorite online streamer
- The vendors you hired for your wedding
- Your favorite personal coach or nutritionist 😉
- Any person that provides a service or product that makes YOUR life better
— even WITHOUT BUYING ANYTHING.
Here’s how.
- Engage with their social media content.
For many small businesses, social media is the fastest way to build a brand and connect with their community (and potential customers)
An average of 4.75 BILLION posts hit Facebook each day, for example— But the algorithms are fickle, and only a fraction of those make it to people’s home feeds.
So every like, every retweet, every share, every story sticker tap, is VALUABLE to small businesses. The more YOU interact with a page, the more likely it is to be shown to someone else, too.
WAYS TO DO IT:
- Turn on post notifications for a small business’ social media page(s), or add them to your “favorites” feed.
- Share / repost their content
- Leave a comment or ask a question
- Take a photo and tag them when you use their product, visit their store, meet with them, etc.
You can support me directly by visiting any of the platforms below:
Facebook: Bonnie Flemington Wellness
Facebook community: From Aging to Energy 40+
Instagram: @bonnieflemingtonwellness
Pinterest: @bonnieflemingto
Website: bonnieflemington.com
- Leave a (supportive, honest) review
Have you used their services before, even years ago?
Have you had a great interaction with them, even if you didn’t buy?
Have you heard wonderful things about your neighbor’s experience hiring them?
Leave a review! Your positive experience will go a LONG way towards helping other people choose to support that business— and many business owners send small thank-yous for completing a testimonial or review.
WAYS TO DO IT
- Write a review on their Facebook or Yelp page
- Send them a direct message
- Mail a thank-you card
- Write a post on your own page and tag them
- Recommend to friends, family, and coworkers
Word-of-mouth marketing is the most invaluable— it can’t be bought!
Is there someone in your life who’s been looking for a solution that you KNOW this business can solve?
Simply passing along the name of a business you’ve worked with before, along with their contact info, is a TINY action that can have a HUGE impact.
Your friend will thank you for the recommendation, and the business owner you recommended will be grateful too!
WAYS TO DO IT: This one should be self-explanatory! Listen to your conversations over the months— there WILL be natural opportunities to lift up someone whose business you support!
