Thanks Neenah Paper for featuring our cards… we love 130# Classic Crest. It always prints smooth and sharp. Happy Holidays!

For the second year in a row, American Express (NYSE: AXP) is sponsoring and pledging their support for Small Business Saturday scheduled for this Saturday November 26th. Right smack dab between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday is the time to come out and support local small businesses in your community and boost the economy in the process. Furthering the draw to bring visitors to Mom and Pop shops, American Express is offering $25 to AmEx card owners who shop at a local owned business, ABC Action News reports.

While the average American is expected to spend at least $704 on gifts and other miscellaneous items,  American Express CEO Ken Chenault would prefer that the vast majority of that spending be put towards smaller merchants. “Small businesses create half of the jobs in the private sector. [They] have created 65 percent of the net new jobs over the last 17 years. And so, what small business is all about, is where the individual can help our economy because we need to create jobs. And if people support independently owned small businesses in their community, they can make a difference.” Chenault told CBS Evening News.

This year, AmEx plans on outdoing their strong effort from last year. Here’s a rundown in numbers of what Small Business Saturday looked like circa 2010 according to consumeraffairs.com:

1.5 million Facebook users 130 public and private organizations 41 elected officials joined in on the support base

100,000 small businesses that downloaded marketing materials

free Facebook advertising that day that featured 10,000 businesses signing up

200,000 consumers registered their AmEx cards to receive $25 statement credits for shopping

28 percent increase in sales from merchants compared to the Saturday after Thanksgiving in 2009

Granted not every small business retailer will open their doors at midnight or have a line wrapped around the block for door buster deals as stores like Toys”R”Us and Best Buy are infamous for. In fact, they might not have much hype attached to them at all. But there are 5 benefits to shopping locally and participating in Small Business Saturday on November 26.

1) Key Phrase: Local

You might be thinking “neighborhood” or “community” when you see the word local. I’m thinking that too, seeing as my own company is also participating in Small Business Saturday too, but local also means not having to travel all over the place. You don’t have to assign various family members to department stores, armed with credit cards, shopping lists, and cell phones to communicate.

Black Friday and even Cyber Monday are war zones when it comes to shopping and it’s all about first come, first serve. The only problem is that the majority of department stores and electronic warehouses are seldom all located within a speedy driving or walking distance from one another. Instead they’re stretched apart enough to make you travel to get to the next one, usually with few identical locations close by. Being stuck in traffic while shopping is one thing but being stuck at midnight in the freezing cold the day after you’ve stuffed yourself with a Thanksgiving feast is no way to relax during the holidays.

Shop Small on-line or off-line. As a sit in my fancy office ( ok the dining room)…..I think all small business owners will agree, we truly appreciate every order that walks or logs in. RUVAcards accepts American Express… so go get that $25.00 off.

What a great way to share your favorite memories and never touch a computer. Three fabulous holiday photo books.