Small Business Saturday

We are all very familiar now with Black Friday, and Cyber Monday for that matter.  But Small Business Saturday?

YES!  Today is Small Business Saturday, an initiative founded by American Express to raise awareness for small business owners and to show support so that these businesses can stay afloat in this tough economy.  It's brilliant ... you can go to the American Express Facebook page and pledge to support small business, and also get a $25.00 credit to your Amex card.

American Express has been a huge promoter of small business.  In the sea of Black Friday advertising, for me it is American Express that came out the winner with their Shop Small campaign.  Now it's not completely altruistic, the brand gets a big benefit from it.  But I still greatly applaud the effort.

Many have said that small business is the backbone of our economy, and many more have said that it's the key to our recovery.  I agree.  We all get caught up in the big brands and the big retailers, me included.  It's time to shine a spotlight on the entrepreneurs and small business owners who make our country so great.

I am a huge believer in small business, so much so that I just finished my second book:  The Experience Effect for Small Business.  It takes big brand theory (much of what I outlined in my first book) and shows small businesses how to market their brands with limited resources.  I'm hoping that it will become a helpful guide to those who want success like the big guys, but perhaps don't have the training or budgets to do so.

The book won't be out until the middle of December, but my publisher is doing an early bird release of the e-book today, in honor of Small Business Saturday.  Simply go to the website here, and in the shopping cart add "ExpEffectSmallBiz" as the promo code to get a special discount code.  You can get the e-book today and for the next few weeks at a special discount prior to the official release of the book!

Please pass this around to your small business friends and family.  And of course frequent small businesses today and everyday.  They need your support and so does our economy!  I'm heading right into my small town of Newtown, PA today to do some holiday shopping!

Thanks to all of you too, for all of your continued support.  It means the world to me.

What's your experience?  Jim.

Jim Joseph
President of Lippe Taylor
Author of The Experience Effect Series