Abrams: How you can be a Small Business Saturday star

Small Business Saturday is looking for some champions — and that could be you.

“Neighborhood Champions” are crucial to the success of Small Business Saturday — the Saturday after Thanksgiving, which is dedicated to shopping locally. These champions organize special events in their neighborhoods, encourage other local businesses to participate in Small Business Saturday and motivate their customers to get out and shop small on this big day for mom-and-pop small businesses.

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Since its founding in 2010, Small Business Saturday — this year it’s Nov. 26 — has become an American institution. Shoppers, businesses and neighborhoods nationwide have embraced it. Even the president shops locally on Small Business Saturday. Last year, 95 million customers spent $16.2 billion in small and local retailers and restaurants on Small Business Saturday. Some credit for this success has to go to the Neighborhood Champion program.

“Last year we had more than 4,100 Neighborhood Champions participate,” said Amy Marino, vice president of Small Business Saturday at American Express, the founding partner of Small Business Saturday. “They reached over 1.3 million small businesses in all 50 states.”

Things should be even bigger this Nov. 26. “We’ve already surpassed that number this year.”

Chicago may be leading the way. For the last few years, individual Chicago neighborhoods have planned and executed exciting activities for the day — carriage rides, caroling, fashion shows, live music, cooking demonstrations and more. But this year, the city is launching a more ambitious campaign with its Neighborhood Rewards Program.

“This is our first citywide program,” said Roxanne Nava, Chicago’s chief small Business officer.  Through the program, shoppers who spend a total of $300 or more in three or more local businesses in any Chicago retail shopping district from Nov. 26 through Dec. 24 can receive a $50 gift card to use at a participating Small Business Saturday merchant.

“We’ve had different parts of the city participate in Small Business Saturday for a number of years, but this gave us a cohesive effort to incentivize and reward people for shopping in local Chicago neighborhoods,” Nava said.

Any neighborhood group — in fact, any  business — can become a Neighborhood Champion. There’s a whole array of resources to help Neighborhood Champions make Small Business Saturday a success.

“Once an individual or organization signs up as a Neighborhood Champion, they’ll receive merchandise kits from American Express,” Marino said, “to help them engage, excite and outfit small businesses.”

These resources include promotional items like tote bags, balloons, window stickers and buttons to help shoppers identify stores that are participating in the event. This year, American Express has also launched a Shop Small Studio where individual small businesses can create customized marketing materials, including event posters and fliers, website badges and social media messages and assets.

In October, American Express conducted Small Business Saturday Boot Camps in Chicago, New York and San Francisco to help Neighborhood Championsgear up and get to know one another better. I was fortunate to participate in these boot camps and see the energy, commitment and creativity of these community small-business leaders.

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This year many Chicago neighborhoods are planning special events for the day, such as tree lightings, ice sculptures, children's activities and “passports” to encourage shoppers to visit several stores. A few groups will offer free shuttles to take shoppers between neighborhoods.

“Small Business Saturday is a great day of eating, shopping and dining in every part of the city,” said Nava.

Find out more about the Neighborhood Champion program and the Shop Small Studio at www.ShopSmall.com.

Rhonda Abrams is the author of 19 books including “Successful Business Plan: Secrets & Strategies” now in its sixth edition. Connect with Rhonda facebook.com/RhondaAbramsSmallBusiness and twitter: @RhondaAbrams. Register for Rhonda’s free business tips newsletter at www.PlanningShop.com