Small Business Saturday 2012: Shop Small

Saturday, November 24, is Small Business Saturday, a concept originated and promoted by American Express. The idea is to support small and local businesses during this very busy holiday shopping weekend. American Express provides free downloadable and customizable marketing materials plus campaign ideas to help small businesses reach out to shoppers. It also offers $25 credit to its cardholders for shopping local.

This is the 3d annual Small Business Saturday, and the Small Business Administration is only one of many organizations getting involved. Across the country, chambers of commerce are sponsoring special events, downtown merchants' groups and community organizations are hosting receptions parades, and newspapers are providing coverage to get the word out.

Already, the Small Business Saturday Facebook page has more than 3 million likes, the Twitter account has nearly 11,000 followers, and a YouTube page (autogenerated by YouTube) has a few dozen videos related to this event.

So between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, sandwich in a bit of shopping at an independently-owned retailer or business near you.