• "Made an outreach to the Director of Economic Development for the city of Phoenix Arizona to set up a networking event for small businesses to connect and promote Small Business Saturday. I went to Grand Canyon University where they house several start ups giving them some promotional material, and they are going to spread awareness of Small Business Saturdays within the University and other local businesses. My aunt in Houston is promoting this with her personal businesses as well."-Zachary McCoy

​

• "I gave away all my Neighborhood Champion materials to two small businesses.  I met with the President of the Clarksville Industrial Development Board and he indicated he would promote the day, and the Shop Small concept to his stakeholders. I hope to meet with the president of the Chamber of Commerce in Springfield, TN."-Brent Ward

​

• "My marketing plan is to contact the Lisle Area Chamber of Commerce. Make businesses in my area aware of the small business resources available by AMEX. Share the info a the impact the Chamber tells me local small businesses make in building the community. Hand out flyers in the downtown area to promote the shopping small business campaign."-Andrea Kirkland

​

• "As SBS champion, I will obtain the information of Spa’s and nail salons in the local area and will create a contact list (manager name, phone, address, and email). I will contact them and let them know about SBS and ask them if they want to participate in the program and what they would like to offer. I also will ask them if they want to partner with I-M.I.N.D. The partnership would consist of providing I-M.I.N.D. brochure to their customers and ask them if they want to relax by listening to meditations of I-M.I.N.D. 7-day FREE trial while they are having a massage, their nails are in progress, or taking the brochure at home to try it when they want. To participate in the SBS partnering with I-M.I.N.D. it will be up to the Spa’s and nail salons managers. I will distribute the marketing material provided by American Express and the I-M.I.N.D. brochures to the Spa’s and nail salons or ask them to pick it up at a central location. I will create posts in the Winter Garden and Windermere Facebook pages to create awareness of the SBS for the Spa’s and nail salons that participate. Also, the local Chamber of Commerce will be contacted to promote the SBS."-María del Rocío Feaster

​

• Introduction

• American Express and DeVry University Delter Mu Delta Phi Chapter is proud to introduce a valuable way to empower local businesses to improve their customer relations and increase customer satisfaction. The Small Business Saturday is an event taking place the Saturday after Thanksgiving and it serves as an innovative tool that drives business success by allowing local businesses to connect with customers and build their brands in a powerful way

• Target Market

• The market that is targeted will be businesses in the Dixon neighborhood. Dixon is a small town located in Northern California with a population of about 500,000 residents. It is a growing community of entrepreneurs which makes it a strategic fit for this promotion

• Small Business Saturday 

• American Express is dedicating the Saturday after Thanksgiving to promote small businesses in local areas and has the strong support of Delta Mu Delta an organization with unwavering dedication to excellence . It will be a unique opportunity to reach out to interested businesses and provide support regarding how they can provide better services or products, offer valuable advice on how to attract new customers and retain existing customers in building their businesses

• Promotional Campaign

• The promotion material for the day will be in the form of a small card that reads “THANK YOU FOR COMING. Tell us how we can better serve you in future”. This idea will allow small businesses to be customer-focused as new information that will allow them to expand their growth is gathered. Important ideas on how to manage projects successfully will also be provided such as keeping costs down while maintaining the desired quality.  Specifically, businesses will be reminded to always keep in mind that the quality of their product or service must not be compromised by price cutting strategies designed to increase profit. It must always be “Customer is King”. The card will also be accompanied by a flyer which explains the whole idea behind Small Business Saturday (A copy of the promotional Thank You card and flyer will be emailed as an attachment to Dr. Ward and Zachary before the end of the week). I will also be signing up to be a neighborhood champion of Small Business Saturday before the week runs out.

• Implementation

• I will be going to small businesses such as local restaurants, retail stores, graphic designers and artists, mechanics, barber shops and beauty salons to share this idea. The promotional material will be dropped off at the locations visited 

• Evaluation

• At the end of the exercise, I plan to reach out to interested businesses and evaluate how successful the promotional effort was. This will also be an opportunity for local businesses to share their current and potential challenges in the Dixon area including what steps should be taken to address such challenges. 

• Conclusion

• In conclusion, the Small Business Saturday will be an interesting way that Delta Mu Delta and American Express can help promote small business investments in local communities and increase economic growth.- Ade Adeyanju