Mom and Pop Shop Day (or National Mom and Pop Business Owners' Day) is March 29th! If you aren't familiar with this holiday, it is a day set aside to recognize and celebrate small business owners. These people are often the heart of a town, working tirelessly to grow a business that they care about. To keep their businesses alive, small business owners often have to leave family and friends out of the equation.
So every March, we celebrate them and all the hard work they do! Here are just a few things you can do online to show your support for your favorite mom and pop shops.
1. Share Their Website on Social Media
In addition to operating a physical store, many small business owners maintain a website as well. These sites are often not professionally maintained, so they may not regularly get the exposure they deserve.
To help the world see the businesses you care about, share them on your favorite social media platforms! Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ are all great places to promote small businesses. Write something about them and include a link to their website. Trust me, they will appreciate it.
2. Write a Positive Yelp Review
When tourists are looking for a cool spot in town, they use Yelp. When locals are trying to figure out where to eat, they use Yelp. When just about anyone is trying to find anything, they use Yelp! That's because it's a great, simple platform for sharing your opinions and experiences with businesses of all kinds. If you have had a pleasant experience at a small business, make sure you let the world know! Mom and pop shops can't afford a lot of advertising, so word-of-mouth is key!
3. Stop Using Big Online Retailers
OK fine, not permanently! But whether or not you realize it, those huge online retailers are every small business's biggest competitors. On those sites you can find practically every product you could want at a lower price than if you bought it from a mom and pop store. But when you buy from small businesses, it puts money into the local economy and brings the community together!
So for this day, week, or even month, take a break from those large online retailers. If you need something you would usually get from them, look around locally! You'd be surprised what you can find when you look a little closer to home.
4. Give Them Feedback
Local businesses want their customers to tell them how they're doing! Many ways to do this exist. You can post on their Facebook pages, comment on their posts, email them, or even give them a call. You can usually find their email and phone number on the customer support page of their website. The important thing when giving feedback is to make it constructive. Instead of tearing down these hard-working business owners, build them up. If you have criticisms, cushion them with positive feedback. Mom and pop shops love to hear from their customers and are always striving to improve, so help them by providing quality feedback!
5. Buy from Their Website
You can sing the praises of mom and pop shops until your lungs hurt, but if you don't buy from them, you're barely helping at all! These businesses offer a wide range of unique and interesting products you may have never heard of. So on March 29th, and any other day, visit your favorite small business's website and treat yourself to something special!
What's your favorite mom and pop shop? Help them out by sending us a link to their website! We love hearing about fellow small businesses!