Meaningful Ways To Support Small Business- For Free, & Within Minutes
There is a lot going on in the world right now. We know small businesses are being affected but there isn’t a lot of coverage on how the decline of the success of small business (and in many cases, the failure of small business) will affect you, as a consumer. Consider:
If you like choices, small business is important to you.
If you like to feel valued, small business is important to you.
If you don’t want to overpay for things that you’ll need in the future, small business is important to you.
If your community is important to you, small business is important to you.
For many right now, money is tight. Buying gift cards in advance from small business sounds like a great gesture, but not possible for many. Donating, or tipping extra sounds great- but we can’t all do that. Here is what you can do now, for free:
Leave them reviews. Businesses rely on reviews. Most of the time people only leave a review when they are over-the-top happy (and asked to leave a review) or they are very upset. There isn’t much in the middle for small businesses that provide great products and services consistently, day in and day out to you. Leave them a thoughtful review. Talk about your experience and then simply copy and paste to share on multiple platforms. We recommend starting with Google and then sharing to Facebook, Yelp, Angie’s List, etc. We promise they will be grateful and it will only take you a few minutes.
Refer them. If you had a good experience with them, refer them! Share your experience within your online communities and among your friends. Your friends will be thankful to not have to do research when they have the need for a certain product or service and the small business will be grateful.
Tell them thank you. Many small businesses operate on small margins. You know when you shop at a chain and no one remembers your name or considers your preferences? That’s why they took a leap of faith to do a better job for you. Many small business owners use their retirement savings and/or take out substantial loans to provide you with something better. Give them a simple thank you.
Build a relationship with them. More often than not, a small business owner started their business because they were passionate about something and saw a need. They count on you to survive. Check in with them!
Be kind and patient. Imagine if your paycheck stopped suddenly and on top of that, your employees with families were counting on you to pay their bills. How stressed would you be? Even those that were able to take advantage of the Paycheck Protection Program have now depleted their funding and are now living day-to-day based on local mandates. Show them some compassion when they are struggling to provide you with the level of service they usually give you.
Like, follow, & share. By following their social platforms, you are increasing their audience organically. If there is a special or a piece of content that you find valuable to you or you think your network could benefit from, share it! It gives them some free marketing, and this is the time when they need it the most!
Slantics Advertising was started because we believed in the power of creativity, standing apart, and taking risks. While we work with a variety of business sizes, we believe every project we take on is unique and special to us. We hope you join us in advocating for small business heroes!