Time to find out how Small Business Saturday went! Did sales jump or drop this year? Plus, many will be glad to hear that “goofing off” isn’t all that bad – but it’s all in how you use it. This and much more in our round-up!
Small Business News of the Week
Well, another Holiday Insanity Sales Weekend has come and gone, with Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday flying by after bringing in tons of sales. But just how great was it?
While there aren’t official numbers quite yet, there are some facts that show how much it’s improved since 2011. The total weekend saw just below $60 billion worth of sales. According to the National Federation of Independent Business and American Express, roughly 10% of those polled knew about and were going to support Small Business Saturday.
That gives SBS a solid $5.5 billion worth of sales! It’s an unofficial count, but give or take a few million the results should show the same. Also, American Express reports they experienced a 21% increase in card-member transactions on SBS.
These results show great promise for the rest of the holiday season. How can you take advantage of the increase in traffic?
Around the Entrepreneur Web
Building a Startup Community in a Small Town – Many think of urban areas when someone mentions “startups,” but thousands of new businesses start in small towns. They face their own challenges and disadvantages, though, as many in small towns aren’t interested in technology or social media.
Online Sales Rise 30 Percent on Cyber Monday – While we focus a lot on Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday is a huge deal for businesses across America as well. Sales were up yet again for 2012 and look to be great for next year as well.
How to Sell Platform-Based Skills – Focusing on a particular platform can seem restricting, but it comes with quite a few surprising advantages.
Outright Community Speaks
Our users surprise us every day with questions and concerns. Here’s a common one we’ve been getting lately:
I’m an Etsy seller who loves using Outright but hates the double postings of Etsy fees. Why does this happen, and how can I stop it?
Have more questions or concerns? Stop by our Outright Customer Care forum!
Outright Pro Tip: “Goofing Off”
About how long does it take you to get to work? No, I don’t mean what time dl you actually get to work – how long does it take you in the morning to start going? Most of us don’t sit down and immediately start working as there’s always blogs or news you’d like to catch up with first. It could even be something like looking at what hilarious jokes have been posted on Reddit before you get started on emails.
Whatever it is, it’s not quite as “destructive” as you may think. If you let goofing off define your day, sure, it’s not going to be good for your bottom line. But taking a moment to look at lolcats in the morning can actually boost your brain and give you a better attitude for the hours (and hours, and hours) to come, especially during these stressful holiday weeks.
So don’t feel too guilty when you stop writing your blog post and check out a silly video! However, for a better experience, try to make your “goof off” time something that relates to your business. For example, if you make custom license plates, poke around on car websites to get cool new ideas.
That’s it for this week’s Round-Up!
