Below are a few ways you can promote Small Business Saturday and drive customers to your store on November 26th.

Get a jump start on marketing Small Business Saturday through your online marketing campaign far in advance of the event. Start talking about the special events and promotions that you will offer on SBS on your website, blog (if you have one), social media pages, store newsletter and email marketing as soon as possible.

Create a special promotion to market on Small Business Saturday. Consumers will be hungry for good deals, particularly this season. Offer some sort of discount off the purchase of one item, an entire purchase or on a specific popular product line. The more deals you market, the more likely people will be to come in and check it out.

Drive even more traffic to your store through your social media push. Market SBS and your store promotions and events through Facebook, Twitter or even a YouTube video.

Issue a press release to the local media that you are a local merchant participating in Small Business Saturday. News reporters will be searching for local retailers to include in news articles around Small Business Saturday.

Send a printed or handwritten invititation to your VIP customers with a special offer redeemable on SBS. Your top customers often represent 30% or more of your holiday sales. Extend a special invitation and a special offer incentivizing them to visit the store on SBS.

Plan fun events throughout the day on SBS, then create a promotional postcard and/or email that you send to all of your customers in your database outlining the schedule of events (trunk show, local artisan signing books, wine and cheese, etc.).

Post store signage. Utilize your store windows as a billboard to market this important event.

Run a print ad in your local newspaper with a special coupon offer. Broaden your marketing reach by running a print ad on Black Friday when consumers are turning to the newspaper to plan a shopping strategy for the weekend.

Also, remember to visit the SBS Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ShopSmall for more ideas!

Just as we feel like we’ve got social media figured out, along comes a whole new trend for retailers to watch for. I’ve recently seen some great write ups on businesses that are now combining social media and gift giving. Sites like Giftiki.com and Shareagift.com harness social networking and online payments to make the gift giving chore something fun for the giver and receiver. These sites allow you and fellow gift givers to effortlessly pool your money toward something the recipient actually wants (like a new iPad) rather than receiving the assorted bad ties and scented candles. Giftki acts like an app on Facebook and will pull in the birthdays of your Facebook friends so users don’t even have to input data.

How can retailers get involved? Do some browsing and look into these companies, learn how their businesses work and how you may be able to collaborate with them. For example, with Giftki, they use American Express and Amex’s Serve online payment system. Do you accept Amex and are you able to accept Serve payments on your website? If not, you may want to consider getting signed up to accept online payments like PayPal and Serve.

Also, keep this trend on your radar and let’s come up with some new ideas on how specialty retailers can use collaborative gifting in our own businesses.

Recently I was named as an advisor and spokesperson for American Express OPEN’s Small Business Saturday (SBS). I’m hoping you’ve heard of SBS, a program introduced by American Express last year to promote local retailers and encourage shoppers to spend their holiday dollars in their local communities at small businesses on Saturday, November 26th, the day after Black Friday.

As we all know, local retailers are the backbone of the communities in which they do business and American Express just released a survey that further proves it. The American Express OPEN Independent Retail Index reported that 46 percent of retail sales come from small business retailers. On average 1800 jobs are created in a local community thanks to small business retail. And communities with thriving small business retail have home values that outperform citywide markets by 50 percent.

What can you do? For starters, learn more and begin promoting Small Business Saturday in your community.

Start by liking the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ShopSmall (or using the Like button to the right). American Express has also just launched a toolkit of promotional materials, also available on the Facebook page, that you have access to, to promote Small Business Saturday in your community.

You should also register your store on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ShopSmall. American Express has partnered with Facebook to create a national database of retailers who are participating in SBS. When you register your store not only will you be encouraging all of the people in your community to stop by, but you'll also be marketing your store on a national level. Last year, the SBS Facebook had more than 1.5 million likes so when you post and comment on the page you'll be putting your store in front of 1.5 million Americans immediately. And that’s just for starters…

Stay tuned because I will be writing more on how we can make this holiday, and specifically Saturday, November 26th, your biggest sales day ever!

If you're looking for some creative new retail business ideas you must check out this article on new vending machine concepts from around the world. There are 100 ideas here that range from very cool to inspirational to downright bizarre.

Whether your company produces a product or you’re a retailer, there are a wide range of interesting ideas here from a hot pizza vending machine to a jeans dispenser. Even if you have a brick and mortar store, you may want to consider adding one of these to your store.

The calm before the storm (the busiest time of the year for most retailers) is the perfect time to implement greater organization that will help create more efficiency and a more pleasant environment for you, your employees and your customers.

Step 1. Purge
Before you even think of beginning to organize, you must do a thorough round of de-cluttering. Get rid of any non-essentials and concentrate on scaling back on the stuff. Avoid the temptation to begin organizing anything, just stay focused on de-cluttering.

Step 2. Think of an assembly line
Arrange different work areas according to their function and think of an assembly line. Assemble everything at that location that’s needed to do the job. For example, if you have a gift wrapping station, make sure the wrapping paper, scissors, tape, ribbon and extra supplies are located within reach of the wrapping station. The same would go for the shipping station and merchandise receiving areas.

Step 3. Keep it simple
Create organizational and filing systems that are simple and easily maintained by you and your staff. We often have grand plans to organize, but make it so hard to keep up that the organized environment doesn’t last long.

Step 4. Create dump zones
Place catch-all baskets, bowls, and/or bins to capture frequently used and needed items such as pens and keys where they can be quickly and easily used and put away.

Electric car manufacturer, Coda Automotive, is fighting an uphill battle (against other major competitors like Nissan and Mitsubishi) to become better known. So it’s come up with a new, hip sales strategy that may just give them a leg up on the big guys.

Perhaps what Coda’s doing may inspire you to freshen up your image and make some changes to increase your competitive edge.

Revolutionizing the car buying experience
Possibly inspired by Apple’s stores, Coda has opened sleek, stylish retail outlets in major malls, like the Westfield Century City Shopping Center in Los Angeles, that are named Coda Experience Centers where no pressure “gurus” answer questions.y
 
Unique location
Coda is going where few car dealerships have gone…the mall. Within the store they have created a hip Electric Vehicle Bar where shoppers can use interactive displays to learn more about electric vehicles. How and where can you sell your products that would be unexpected, revolutionary… and successful?
 
Changing the image of EV buyers
The vibe of the Coda stores attempts to draw a younger, hipper demographic than the older earthy-crunchy crowd that has originally been associated with electric cars. How can you tweak the environment of your store to attract a new generation of loyal shoppers?
 
Unexpectedly great service
Coda is also revolutionary on the service side. According to what I’ve read, when your car needs service they will come to you, pick up your vehicle, fix it and return it to you. What are some new ways you can provide unexpectedly great service?
 
Read more about Coda on CNET.

Ever feel like your to do list and email inbox are growing faster than the national debt? Or that as hard as you’re working, you never seem to be ticking off the most important items on your task list? We all feel that way at one time or another.

Here are some tips to help you harness technology and work smarter, not harder.

Work from anywhere. Save time by making it easy to work wherever you are. There are multiple ways you can insure access to important documents, emails and schedules from anywhere, such as storing it all on the Internet, carrying a small jump drive with you at all times, or using a laptop that you always carry with you.

Automate important functions. Avoid wasting time cutting, signing and mailing checks. Automate your bill paying and payroll as much as possible. Most banks have an online bill paying feature that you can sign up for.

Put your inbox on a diet. Increase efficiency in your inbox by using an email program that allows you to filter and file emails with no action on your part. Set up folders and filters so that you only see important, action-required email in your inbox. Then deal with emails as you read them so that they can be filed and finished for good.

Automate marketing tasks. Set up auto-responders for emails and social media messages. Create auto reminders for consistent tasks such as writing blog posts or submitting artwork for your newspaper ad. Also, create checklists and forms for tasks you do regularly so that you’re not reinventing the wheel each time.

Sweat the exceptions only. Avoid spending time reviewing items, reports, statements and paperwork that don't really require your attention. Make a habit of only reviewing items that are exceptions, such as budget overruns or missed sales forecasts.

Do you ever wonder how some businesspeople are so productive? These folks have a seemingly insurmountable workload and get it all done while growing their business and being a great boss. The answer may be momentum. Creating momentum in your life can help you get more done, grow your business, boost your attitude and your bottom line. I was recently reading up on this subject and have a few tips to share on how other successful businesspeople have created momentum in their lives.

Plan ahead. Carry your momentum from one day to the next by taking time at the end of each day to plan for the next day. Include your staff in this exercise to help carry your business' momentum into the next day as well. Prioritize and forecast what needs to happen and when it arrives, you’re focused and ready to charge ahead.

Avoid momentum breakers. Long, drawn-out, unproductive meetings or lunches can create a break in your daily momentum. Keep meetings and lunches short and focused to avoid letting them break your stride.

Capitalize on technology. Use productivity tools that can help you speed through daily tasks that can bog you down, such as reading email. Implement email filters or an email filing system so that only emails that need your attention appear in your inbox. Examine other daily tasks and see if you can implement technology to streamline them.

Take care of your body. Being highly productive can be exhausting! Create a healthy lifestyle including exercise and healthy eating to help kick-start your physical momentum and support the pace you expect to keep. Many successful businesspeople report starting their days, no matter how early, by hitting the gym.

Here are three more suggestions to inspire your mid-year check-in:

Create greater efficiency. If you are feeling so mired in the day-to-day operations of your business that there is no time for goal-setting (let alone course-correcting), now is the time to create greater efficiency. Review the daily, weekly and/or monthly tasks that are holding you back and consider ridding yourself of unnecessary duties and streamline others with technology or changes in process. Creating greater efficiencies will open up space in your schedule to begin setting goals, innovating and growing your business.

Make sure changes are real and not superficial. If you plan to make course corrections, make sure the changes you make are real and transformative. Oftentimes as business owners we resist transformative change for fear of alienating core customers. Trust that your best customers will come along with you as you improve your products, customer experience or technology.

Consult with others outside your normal circle. If you and your business are feeling stuck, try venturing out from your inner circle of advisors and seek the advice of outside sources. Consider joining a professional organization where you can meet and speak with a whole new group of professionals. Try speaking with those outside of your industry to gain council and insight.

As we approach the mid-point of the year, it’s a great time to ask, “how is the year going?” How are you doing with the goals you set for yourself and your business this year? Are you still feeling motivated to achieve those goals or is it perhaps time to make some modifications? Here are some suggestions to get you back on track:

Remember your mission. When you began the year and set some goals for yourself, you perhaps had a mission for the year, whether to kick-up your marketing a notch or grow your business by opening a new location. Now is the time to revisit that mission and renew your commitment to it. If others of your staff are involved, revisit the mission with them as well and examine what it will take to achieve your goals and mission over the second half of the year.

Are your efforts working? If your efforts toward your goal make you feel like you’re swimming in quicksand and not getting anywhere, now is the time to reexamine why. If new marketing efforts seem not to be effective, or if a new product line is struggling, perhaps it’s time to refocus on what your customers or staff want. Take time to listen to others whether it be your advisors, employees or customers. Correct your course and see what happens over the next six months.

De-clutter for maximum gain. Now is a great time to examine your workload, products and even employees. Find all the activities, products and people that are bogging you and your business down (and demanding attention with no profit potential) — it’s time to eliminate them. Create space in your store and in your life and fill that new space with efforts, products and people that you know will add to your business success and work with you to achieve your goals.