This is becoming a holiday tradition (she says, smiling from ear to ear).
Last New Year’s Day, I sat at my parents’ kitchen table in Nebraska, watching our 30,000th fan join The 3/50 Project Facebook page.
Last night, again from Mom and Dad’s kitchen table, I watched our 70,000th fan join the FB fold.
And today, I’m still bursting with just as much pride over every single independent brick and mortar business owner…every single consumer…every single organization and non-indie business who helped get us here. You guys are what fires me up, keeping me moving 150 mph on this path toward strengthening our local economies. If not for your perseverance, determination, positive reinforcement, and enthusiasm, well…. Our little “small business lovefest” would have languished in blog land after my first missive.
Thank you for breathing life into what we do, giving The 3/50 Project a voice, and being the amazing superheroes you are every day of the year. Talk about inspiration…….
Happiest New Year…and here’s to big things ahead.
Cinda
The end of the year.
During my days as a retailer, it marked several things: realization that the next morning meant a new slate and endless possibilities; a chance to reflect on what could have been done differently and what was done perfectly; and an opportunity to relax into the most laid back day of our retail year (being a few doors down the sidewalk from a liquor store made that easy, given the number of brown bags that lined our cash wrap counter as folks shopped, post-champagne run).
I’m not sure what it is about the combination of human instinct and calender date, but for many of us, December 31 is “reboot day.” Which is good.
Need a starting point? Here you go— [click here to continue…]
Did you spend at least $50 this month with three locally owned businesses while shopping for the holidays? Great! Now…how ‘bout we give you a $350 gift card as thanks for doing the right thing?
We’re into the final days of our “Small Boxes Big Rewards” contest, giving away ten (count ‘em, ten!) $350 American Express gift cards.
Pick 3, spend 50, get $350. How much better does it get than that?
Here’s the skinny: [click here to continue…]
Note: State sales tax is typically not paid unless the e-tailer has a physical presence in your state. In those cases, they’re supposed to pay sales tax, but don’t always do so. City sales tax follows the same pattern, but is even less predictable or reliable.
I’ve had it. As someone with real time constraints to contend with, I rely heavily on WordPress plugins to relay my blog posts to the rest of the social media world, especially to Twitter, who made some changes to how they handle API calls a couple of months ago (sorry if I just techno-leaped over a couple of heads there with the geek speak).
[click here to continue…]
Click image above to enter the contest
You’ve heard The 3/50 Project chant: “Pick 3, spend 50.“ You’ve heard of Small Business Saturday, the AmEx initiative that created a day for independent brick and mortar businesses. Well, how about this:
Pick 3. Spend 50. Win 350.
Yeah. That’s right. Ten lucky folks will each win a $350 American Express gift card just for doing the right thing. [click here to continue…]
From The New Yorker, circa 1980’s (presumably written by an independent retailer whose name is missing from the piece):
A Nation of Shopkeepers
England has been called “a nation of shopkeepers,” and rightly so. We know a man living in London who comes home very Thursday to find his refrigerator newly stocked by the grocer across the street. This particular grocery store is about the size and shape of a butler’s pantry, presided over by a Dickensian character named Hughes. [click here to continue…]
Just learned about this from a couple of retailers I met during The 3/50 Project Northern California Tour earlier this year. The fine folks of Willows, CA put on an annual holiday parade, which Holly and Dolores, owners of Gathering Better Junque, saw as an opportunity to remind residents to support their local, independent brick and mortar merchants.
Gotta tell you, when I put the graphics together for the Big Things campaign, it never occurred to me just how creative you’d get with the theme. From Atchison, KS Chamber adorning an entire stage in purple and gold packages to the Gathering Better Junque Danali (complete with a fully lit Christmas tree and our Big Things posters), well…color me impressed.
And proud.
And touched.
You folks are what makes the Project sing. Thanks for your glorious voices and unbridled enthusiasm; that’s what makes this work!
