Second Annual Small Business Saturday Could Mean Deal For American Express Cardholders

November hosts Small Business Saturday! Never heard of it? Me either. But apparently in honor of the day which is dedicated to small businesses on the busiest shopping weekend of the year the Better Business Bureau (BBB) is urging consumers to support the day and attempting to spread awareness.

“For the second year in a row, American Express OPEN has declared November 26th, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, to be Small Business Saturday. Sandwiched between black Friday and cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday is a perfect way to support the small businesses that you love” – Source.

Personally, I’m a huge fan of small and local businesses alike. There’s no greater feeling than getting what you need and/or want and supporting your small/local businesses that usually desperately need to business to stay afloat.

The BBB is teaming up with American Express OPEN this year to spread word about the day and to share information on why small businesses are just so great.

“It’s great to have a day that’s completely dedicated to the success of our small businesses and it’s even better to think that the success of this day could lead to the growth and prosper of the small businesses in the days and years to follow,” said Stephen A. Cox, president and CEO of the Council of Better Business Bureaus. “We’d like to encourage our consumers to take advantage of this day and show support to the small businesses in their community” – Source.

In preparation FedEX will be giving away 40,000 $25 American Express gift cards to lucky customers. 75% of these gift cards will go to those who register via the FedEx Facebook page as of November 1st, 2011.

What’s super cool is that if you’re an American Express user you’ll be privy to getting a $25 statement credit to card members who spend $25 or more on Small Business Saturday at qualifying independent merchants that accept AmEx.

While this is encouraging credit use it is also encouraging small/local business use – this has me stuck at a moral cross road! If you feel you can responsibly and effectively take use of this $25 credit offer then by all means, go for it! If you struggle with sticking to a budget and often spend beyond your means I’d suggest not being tempted by this deal to use credit.

You must register to receive the credit. Registration is available in early November at facebook.com/smallbusinesssaturday. For small businesses, $100 in free Facebook ads will be awarded to the first 10,000 businesses that sign up at facebook.com/smallbusinesssaturday – Source.