All Posts, Blogging, Small Business, TOTS Business

How to Support Small Businesses

Susan

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I know many of you shop small and good for you and this is how to support small businesses.

But there is more things you can do to support small businesses, some without even spending a dime!

Table of Contents

Shop Small

Many small businesses have comparable prices, better quality and superior customer service to a big box store.

Wouldn’t you rather help a mom buy groceries, than fill the already full pockets of a CEO? Of course you would.

So shop around, visit ETSY, browse Facebook and find the gems of small businesses.

Your cost: varies.

Comment, Post, Like and Share

Being active on Facebook doesn’t have to be time consuming or challenging.

‘Like’ a few of the pages that appeal to you. When you see a post from them, try to ‘like’ the post or better yet ‘comment’ or ‘share’.

This will help the small business get exposure as it may appear in your friend’s news feeds as well.

Your cost: ZERO

Support Bloggers, Simply by Reading

Bloggers generate income by advertising, affiliate marketing and sponsored posts. In order to get these opportunities they need good ‘stats’.

Stats are based on how many people visit their blog, how many pages they visit and if a post is ‘shared’, ‘liked’ or commented on.

Entering giveaways also helps their appearance and can generate more sponsors for them.

You might also win something! So simply, browse blogs that relate to you.

Read a few articles, click some links and share with your friends.

This doesn’t take long, and is easy.

It can make a big difference to a blogging mother who is trying to earn a little extra money.

Your cost: ZERO.

Give Feedback

This too can be free. If you see a product that you would find useful, or think is a great idea, tell the business.

If you have bought something, offer a review.

For cloth diapers and accessories, post a review on diaperswappers.com or diaperpin.com.

Many stores will have review capabilities within their site.

If these are not options, post on their Facebook wall.

It can be as easy as: “I got this product from you and I love it!”.

You could also give more details about the great things about it.

This helps encourage buying from people who are on the fence.

Your cost: Free or the cost of a product.

Find the Small Businesses

Check out our directory to see some businesses.

If you see one you have purchased from, write a review.

If you don’t see one of your favorites on our directory, tell them about us.

This will help others find them as well as improve online searches.

Looking for a place to start?

Here are a few small businesses and bloggers that I support.

Please visit them and browse.

It is a great place to start!

Comment below telling me who you checked out!

Businesses	Bloggers
	TotsFamily.com

From The Stash	Zephyr Hill Blog
Pure Fusion Costmetics	Housewife Mama
TC Creations	Life as a Wife, Mummy and Nurse
Snugs	Eco Baby Mama Drama
Muggabug	The Not-So-Secret Confessions Of A Second Time Mom
Little City Sewing	The Great Mum Adventure

Once Upon a Monkey	Stay At Home Cloth Diapering Mama

A Happy Green Life	Adventures of Mommyhood
Bear Moon	Cloth Diaper Addicts
Alma’s Chicks	Cloth For A Cause
Simply Changing Lives	Krazy for Kloth and Kids
Yaya Baby	Going Green With The Grizls
Growing Green Bums	The Anti-June Cleaver

Thump and Thuds Baby Duds	Just Add Cloth
Beads in a Barn	My Cloth Diaper Stash
Huckleberry Baby Shop	First Time Mom (FTM)
Koo Boots	Thinking About Cloth Diapers
Felt Loved Felt-creations by Wendi	Thankful for Thorns

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About The Author

Susan Wetmore

15 Comments

Anne Sweden December 5, 2012
Already checking out some of those WAHM businesses. So many talented ladies out there! Thanks for the good reminders and for sharing your network of friends.
Reply
Pollyanna Valenzuela December 5, 2012
i love this post.. i love to support WAHM businesses as much as i can.
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Bri R December 6, 2012
Great information, thanks for including me!
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Suzi Satterfield @ClothAddicts December 6, 2012
Fantastic post! Supporting small businesses (or, even better, a small local business) is the best way to ensure that the money goes back into the economy instead of into a distant or foreign entity’s coffers! Thanks for the mention. 🙂
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Rowan @ Just Add Cloth December 6, 2012
this is so true. It really does not have to be hard. I have seen my own business grow this year by working with bloggers and the experience has been rewarding for all involved.
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Chantelle @ Pure Fusion Cosmetics December 6, 2012
Wow, fantastic post!! Most of the time Im just wanting people to interact on my Facebook site because thats where alot of great ideas come from.
Another great way is through trade. I love trading products! Whether its just having a straight trade or maybe getting together with a few people for a cross promotion. (eg: I love supplying makeup for a photoshoot if I can use a few of the photo’s)
A big thanks to you for sharing this with me, I love supporting other small businesses. And as I can see by your list there are a few I have already supported by buying stuff and/or intereating with FB posts!
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Celeste @ Thinking About Cloth Diapers December 8, 2012
Thanks for a great and timely article. As we head into the holidays, another great thing about supporting local businesses is that you can get your gifts quickly instead of waiting for them to arrive from far away! Just yesterday, my sister told me about a wonderful experience she had – a major chain had lost her kids’ Christmas gift order, and was now sold out of several of the items she had ordered. However, she located a local business via the internet, and had an excellent customer service experience with them! Just one more reason to support local businesses – they really do care! Thanks for including us in your list of blogs, too!
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Sarah Jane December 13, 2012
Thank you so much for this information. I definitely agree with giving feedback-both on blogs and businesses. For example, one of the ways I decided on which cloth diapers to try was by reading reviews of people who actually purchased the diaper.
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- Katrina December 14, 2012
  That is a great point Sarah Jane. I make purchase decisions based on reviews (or lack of them) as well.
  Reply
Warren November 30, 2013
Actually, this 66 year old man can’t even read the list due to the horrible colors so I can’t respond to content.
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- Katrina November 30, 2013
  Thank you for letting us know. We wrote the post a year ago and have since had a redesign of the blog. When the post was originally written it was very easy to read. I have fixed the issue and I hope you have a chance to check out some of the great business and bloggers.
  Reply
Stacey December 1, 2013
Another great small business is satchelles.com everyone should check it out! Michelle is a fantastic person and awesome to deal with! Her products are great too!!
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Alicia November 28, 2014
love this article! so true, 100% thanks for the excellent ideas 🙂
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JC. Maria November 9, 2015
Hi
I’m also doing a small business while blogging with my little boy. So this article is quite help me sometime. Thank you so much.
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- Katrina November 9, 2015
  Glad you found it helpful 🙂
  Reply