communities across the country are making plans to get people to shop local this small business saturday. we'll tell you what owners here in mill ford, connecticut, are doing to get people away from the wall and month to main street. and we'll give you a roundup of shop small campaigns all across the country. also, what actor kevin bacon is doing to get people to shop small. we've got that and a whole lot more coming up on this special small business saturday edition of "your business." >> small businesses are

revitalizing the economy. and american express open is here to help. that's why we are proud to present "your business" on msnbc. hi there, everyone, i'm j.j. ramberg and welcome to a very special small business saturday edition of "your business." it's been five years since the inception of small business saturday. that's the day after black friday, and before cyber monday, when customers are urged to bypass the chain stores and shop local. since then, it's blossomed into a year-round effort in a lot of communities like here in milford, connecticut. the good folks here invited us to come visit their downtown. and what we discovered when we got here was that after years of struggling to compete with a nearby mall, downtown is thriving due to some very

creative shop small promotions. >> customers can come in, they can talk to someone. you know their name. >> reporter: ray is a licensed pharmacist and the owner of hal's drugs in milford, connecticut. he loves the personal connection he has with his customers. >> you have any questions, just please call. >> okay. >> all right. >> thank you. >> milford's been a really, really good town. >> jim wilson is the owner of milford photo. he, too, feels a very strong connection to his community. >> i mean, i started here in my school. so, i actually worked on the same street across the street. so i've been here for like 40 years on this street. >> yet, as much as he loves his community, he says he's had to reach out beyond milford to create a large enough customer base to support his business. so are you really catering to the region, then, not just milford? >> we're more of a destination business. so more of my business comes from outside of our local area. >> jim isn't the only one in milford who says the future of

his company depends on cultivating a customer base beyond the town lines. >> definitely needs to come from a surrounding region. because i'm a very specialized store. >> yvonne, who owns duck duck goose, an organic children's clothing and toy shop, agrees. she says her all-natural merchandise is so specialized, that she needs to create a larger pool of customers. >> organics are beautiful. they're comfortable. they're great quality. but they're a little bit more expensive. and so, we need to reach out so that we get them from all over. >> kids from all over the state come. it's the talk of the whole area. all the counties. new haven, fairfield county, all the universities. they're all coming to stonebridge. >> richard owns the stonebridge restaurant. with the help of his son, he's transformed his father's fish store into a restaurant and bar that attracts locals and tourists from all across lower connecticut. so how do you get all of these 22-year-olds from the area, the regional area, to know about

you? >> well, good question. my son philip, who is coming in and following in my footsteps, kind of carrying on of the torch, he does all his communications through social media, and working with different groups, and different whatevers. >> while the town takes pride in its pilgrim history, the local businesses are looking to the future. many have jumped on the internet to widen their reach to potential customers. >> internet's just starting to take off. i shipped an order just to arizona last week. >> bill owns mjks woodworking. he says he can take his discuss tomorrow made products far beyond the milford market through social and other online media. >> between a website,atesy, facebook, it gets passed on, they tell two friends, and it seems to be working. >> i'm just i'm still holding off. i don't have a computer. >> marty reed might at first seem like the exception. she's owned and run the canvas patch gift shop in milford for nearly 40 years.

and claims she has absolutely no need for a computer, or the internet. >> i have everything on paper and it doesn't crash. >> but actually that's not quite the truth. she says that despite her internet neglect, her customers are still finding her online anyways. >> that's what they do. they look up a certain product, and lo and behold, there's my name. on my supplier's website. that they call and they want to know where to find crabtree and evelyn products, they can find my shop here. or they want to find aria windchimes, they can go and find me. >> it's social media. everything now is social media. >> and what do you -- do you sell things on social media? or is it just to create this community? >> it's just to create the community. and the awareness. and to bring them in. >> linda mcentire owner of the villa gourmet is marty's neighbor. she says she doesn't use social media to increase sales but uses it to create a dialogue with her local customers to build

loyalty. >> we do wine and cheese tasting nights at local restaurants. or here. we have a cooking class once a month here. so the social media is huge for bringing people in for those things. >> in addition to all of these separate efforts the milford business association has weighed in by creating a shop local milford app to promote everyone's business. will you show me the milford app? >> so you can see the little icon here and you just click it and it's going to open up to however they have it set up. >> stephanie, owner of streamline llc built the milford local business app. she says this kind of social media has great potential. >> it can do quick to call for a reservation. it can show a menu. it can show information. so events you have going on. >> it sounds like a very effective strategy for building community engagement. unfortunately, many of the businesses told us their customers haven't yet noticed it. >> do you use the app at all? the milford app? >> i use the app only occasionally. it's not something that my customers have shown a real

interest in. so it's not something i spend a lot of time on. >> paul is a good case in point. his company, h. mangels confectioners sells handmade truffles. because he's seen growth on his own website paul says he has high hopes for the future of things like this app. despite the slow rate of customer acceptance, stephanie believes that the app will eventually become successful. >> i would say the people that know to use it use it. i use it. but i -- it's definitely something that is going to gain traction over time. it's a little bit ahead of its time. >> and that may be the real lesson here. one of milford, connecticut's secrets for lasting 375 years just might be its continuing efforts to stay ahead of its time. milford, connecticut, is not the only town rallying people to shop on main street. the year long shop local movement spawned by small business saturday is happening in communities across the country. from coast to coast.

businesses and towns and cities are launching campaigns explaining the importance of supporting local independent businesses. it's now been five years since the concept of small business saturday started. a campaign to get customers to shop local on the saturday between black friday and cyber monday. >> for communities, it's important for them to remember that the small businesses are families. these are families that are in your community, we need to support them. they are pioneers, they take risks. >> it's now a national movement. motivating independent local businesses to develop innovative ways to get consumers away from the malls, and onto main street. small business saturday i think is a great deminder to other customers, different customer base, as well, it lets them know that we're here. >> east greenwich rhode island owners are attracting customers into stores that day with

promotions and discounts. >> we are going to give away to all of our customers who spend $50 or more a $25 holiday surprise bag. >> we will be offering free refreshments, a gift with purchase, and some flowers for the ladies. >> similar approaches are happening in countless communities, including great barrington, massachusetts. >> this small business saturday we're going to be having a factory reps coming in to demonstrate. we'll also have food tastings, which people love. it's fun to come in and taste something good on small business saturday and it gets people in the mood for the holiday gift giving season. >> small business saturday led to year-round efforts in many towns to get customers to patronize local businesses. in portland, oregon, a group of owners started a loyalty program called support land. customers use a card when making a purchase that gives them points to exchange for rewards. >> the rewards are important, as more of like a hook. you know. like a game that makes it fun. but our customers are not in it for the rewards.

they just want an excuse to get out there and support local. >> allison of new hampshire wanted to support area businesses and started nearby registry. a gift registry and wish list service for people who wanted to buy products and services from unique local companies. instead of big box stores and national chains. >> people are so used to buying online. you know, at amazon and various other big registries, which are great. but this is sort of this great way of shopping online locally, but across lots of different stores. >> the push to get customers out of the malls and onto main street has many community business owners thinking out of the box. this year, a unique shop local movement started involving the beloved character where's waldo. businesses worked together to get customers to participate in a scavenger hunt by hiding a cardboard cutout of waldo in their stores. customers can win rewards if they find it. >> they like the idea that it would bring more people through their door. more walk-in traffic. that was appealing. >> not only does it drive

traffic into the store, it just creates a fun environment. within the store. our employees love it. >> and in eldridge, iowa, the chamber of commerce and business owners launched a very special campaign focusing on one of the few commodities everyone uses. toilet paper. the wipe local effort asked shoppers to make the switch from buying loyalate paper at the big box stores to community businesses. >> we have to change their thinking and their buying habits and if we just present them the facts that what just one simple thing will do, and what the impact on our economy will be. because when you spend money locally, it's going to stay locally. >> so whether it's for small business saturday, or year-round, it's important that community small businesses work to the to get their message across to their customers. >> you should definitely shop local. this is where you want to be. and you want to keep us in business. >> shop local. stay local.

we read the slogans and we hear the campaigns. but what does it actually take to create a purchasing shift that will help local independent businesses? some of these campaigns completely miss the mark. but, there are several mistakes that are easy to avoid if you just know what they are. i spoke about this with jeff milchin, who is co-director of the american independent business alliance, a nonprofit that works with communities to launch successful buy local campaigns. hey, jeff, it's so good to see you. thanks for coming on to talk to us about this. >> my pleasure. >> okay, so let's talk about campaigns. campaign, so towns or cities may do a buy local campaign and you say one mistake they make is they include local chains. so, a chain store that has a local presence as part of local. >> right. well it's not about bashing the chain stores. but it's important for a campaign to really resonate with the public, especially with small business owners, to focus on locally owned independent businesses. that's what people really care

about in the community. and it's understandable on the part of some governments, because they focus largely on sales tax revenue, about bringing more revenue to fund their programs. but that's really not a campaign theme that's going to resonate with the public. so those that are inclusive of any business based on geography rather than being rooted in the community, we haven't found to stick around very long or have much impact. >> right. because you think of buy local as something that is authentically part of the community, and so if your campaign itself is not authentic, it's just simple marketing, right? it's not going to resonate with people as well. let's move on to the next one which is about leadership. >> so it's important to have a diverse range of leadership in part of any pub link education campaign. you want to make sure that a campaign isn't seen as something for liberals s or conservativer for a niche group it includes a broad set of perspectives,

ideologically from different business, not just about downtown or just about retail but bringing in ideas and participation from the entire community, including concerned citizens, as well, who often play important roles in driving these public campaigns. >> that sounds really interesting to me. a mistake that people make is creating a campaign around shopping. i mean, isn't this what the whole campaign is, which is around shopping? >> well, we encourage folks to frame it more broadly. at least as buy local or even many communities will use the terminology like go local because it's important to include, you know, putting your deposits in your community bank. instead of an absentee owned one. patronize local, independent restaurants. service providers. artists. musicians. even including farmers and ranchers, depending on where you are. the strongest efforts are ones that really have a broad base of support and include the entire business community in an area, rather than focusing too narrowly on just one segment. so we encourage folks -- >> i was going to say it's so true because that creates a whole shift in the way you

think. rather than on different -- exactly. >> -- bigger of i'm supporting my community in everything that i do. >> exactly. so you know, think local first is another slogan that many local groups use to try to build that broad based awareness and make it part of people's everyday consciousness. >> okay. and then this next one kind of follows on that which is people make the mistake of focusing only on consumer decisions. >> right. so it's important to get people to make fully informed decisions, and think about the different benefits for their community of buying local each time they go out and make a purchasing or contracting decision. but it's also critically important to engage folks as consumers. to think about, well, where is our government spending money? is our local school system patronizing local office supply stores, for example? or outsourcing to an out-of-town company? think about influencing public policy, because in many cases, local officials tend to focus on bringing in the big fish. you know, landing that big

factory to come in and open up saying they're creating 200 jobs in the community. but really the best and most durable local economic development is based on very small steps that make it easier for small businesses to start up to add one or two jobs at a time. to grow one or two employees at a time. so, if you have a strong campaign or independent business alliance to advocate and champion those small measures and the people who are advocating them, that can really go a long way towards shifting the thinking and actions of local officials and economic development, city councils, and others. >> you know and finally the last one, i love this, which is don't make the mistake of starting your campaign from scratch. there are great models out there. >> right. >> copy them. copy them and iterate on them to work with your community. >> right. so the american independent business alliance is a nonprofit organization that exists specifically to help communities start effective buy local campaigns and broader pro-local initiatives. and you know, smart people typically won't watch some golf

pros on tv and then just pick up a set of clubs and think they can go out and play well. but for some reason a lot of people just look at other examples, start up a campaign without getting expert guidance. these are just kind of the tip of the iceberg of the common problems. and you know, we want to see more people get our advice and support because we've seen hundreds of campaigns start up around the country in recent years. but most of them have come and gone very quickly without making a real impact. >> and the thing is -- >> that we want to make sure people learn best practices and succeed. >> right. other people have made the mistake. don't make the mistake of making them again learn from them. all right well jeff thank you so much. >> exactly. >> so great to hear your insight on this. really appreciate it. when we come back, our special small business saturday edition continues, as we ask viewers how they're going to get customers to shop small. plus i walk the walk, as i take you to my brooklyn neighborhood and tell you why i support the small businesses there. and i go behind the scenes with actor kevin bacon who is getting

customers to shop at local businesses that are also giving back to charity. this business meansiness, so everything in thathe community. its how i care for my family. what you spend in the community stays in the community. we're all independent folks. but, you know, one store on a block can't make it without other stores. you can't swim alone. small businesses are the life blood of the community. they bring the unique flavor to every community and they certainly bring it to my

district here in south bend. they are not just everywhere usa it is the unique things you find and unique people who run the business that make everything for my neighborhood work and i'm certain that's the case all around the country. >> on this program we talk about shopping small all year round. why it's important and why you need to communicate that to your customers. in advance of small business saturday i took some time to think about why i shop small. my job is all about small business but it's much more than just a job. the small businesses that i go to have a meaningful role in my life. so i wanted to take you on a tour of my neighborhood in brooklyn, new york, to talk to you about why i shop small. ♪ this is brooklyn. and when you talk about places that support small businesses, this neighborhood is definitely one of them. the small businesses around here are part of the recent why i live here. they help make up the character of this area.

this is my neighborhood fish shop. inevitably, a few times a week, it will be 6:00 and my husband and i will look at each other, wondering what are we going to make for dinner and one of us will run out to come in and run out to talk to bianca and mark. you guys have changed the way we eat in my family. >> we have gotten a really good reception from the neighborhood. >> what is different? >> 24 to 48 hours off of a boat. we know all the fishermen and we can trace it to the boat and sometimes even the exact latitude and longitude. >> do you feel like you're part of the community? >> i think we definitely feel like part of the community. we have some great neighbors. >> kids design the world is a toy store that opened up around the corner from me about six months ago. before that, we didn't have a good toy store in this area for anyone with kids like me or going to kids parties, this is an incredible convenience.

i have to personally thank you because having this store so close is so great for me and i'll do anything i can to shop here because i don't want you to go away. >> thank you. >> you have amazing toys that are well curated. what do you think about that? >> i want to have things that the kids want and things the parent want them to have. >> you have classes here. every time i see you're adding more classes for kids. is that important for your survival? >> it's what makes people so interested in the store. what we're doing here is not just about sales, it is about art design education and that's part of being a small business that's operating in the community. >> this is the park slope copy center. i have passed this place so many times after i drop my kids off at school. i never thought twice about it, i never walked in. a few months ago i had a stack

of really important documents that i wanted to scan and i didn't feel comfortable leaving them overnight and then i remembered this place. >> very nervous about leaving your stack of scans with us. >> but you made me feel very comfortable. >> that's what we're here to do. me being at the front as the owner, gives people confidence and they're comfortable leaving their work with us and i can look them in the eye and tell them it is going to get done right and in a timely manner. >> it meant something to me that you grew up in this neighborhood and you went to the same school as my kids and it meant something to me you're a family business. >> that definitely plays a part in the neighborhood. my dad used to have pictures offoof o us in the windows. >> one of the neat things about brooklyn right now are all the things people are doing around food and that is one store in my neighborhood that absolutely epitomizes this.

empire mayonnaise. it seems as something as original as artisan mayonnaise and brooklyn is a perfect match. >> i believe we're the only handmade and our neighbors are the first people who get to try all our flavors and they get to decide if they stay in the shop or take it nationally. having that feedback from brooklyn people is everything about this company. >> when you want to bring something from your neighborhood, you don't want to give something generic and this to me says my neighborhood. >> if you love somebody, you want to give them mayonnaise. >> i shop local because i care about my neighborhood. i like have all these neat stores and coffee shops and may maze places around here. if we don't support them, they will go away. want to attract even more customers and increase your

profits on small business saturday? well, you may want to consider staying open late on november 29th. here are some ideas to help you seize the night and keep those cash registers ringing. one, offer discounted prices after nightfall. you'll attract last-minute shoppers and get new customers in the drink. bring out free food and drinks. wow them with the products you have to offer. three, host light entertainment at your business. make your shop a destination for the community to visit during the holiday season. four, have a raffle for a free product. people love freebies and the added attention will expose businesses to everything else your store has to offer. five, visit shopsmall.com. you can access marketing materials and signage to promote your events leading up to small business saturday. >> as many of you know, i'm a big champion of socially

responsible business. i'm a social entrepreneur myself. it makes sense for companies to care about their community and many surveys have shown that customers like shopping at places with a social mission. turns out, actor kevin bacon thinks this, too. that's why he's taking part in a campaign called shop for good where he's getting customers to shop at local stores that give back. i caught up with the footloose star at a toy store in new york city where he was out trying to find a few good shoppers. ♪ >> earlier this month, the shoppers at the toy store kidding around in new york city got a little bit of a surprise when they checked out who was behind the counter. >> i had no idea kevin bacon would be here. >> well, who would? we expect to see kevin bacon dancing in a warehouse in

"footloose" or more recently chasing after a serial killer on "the following." >> it's basically to promote his organization which is about supporting local businesses. >> oh, a car? >> reporter: kevin's organization sixdegrees.org is getting behind the shop local movement with its shop for good campaign. par participating local retailers are donating to the shopper's favorite charity. why are you doing this? >> it's a couple things. i think it's really important in our communities to support small businesses and local businesses and i think it's good for everybody for the community and certainly for the economy to support small businesses. i think that a lot of the research points to that. and shop for good is a way to combine that with the idea of, you know, spending money and spending holiday money towards

something that you believe in and that you care about. and in this case, you actually get to choose where it is that your donation is made. you kind of can feel good about it on two levels. one is i just got something cool for, i'll say three levels now that i think about it. i just got something cool for my kid or my husband or i took somebody out to dinner. i supported a local business. probably owned and operated by someone that lives in the community and i also through that business made a donation to some kind of school or cause that i care about. >> today four levels because i had had kevin bacon wrap my gift. >> which, by the way, i am just the world's worst gift wrapper as will become very evident very soon. >> turns out, surprise, nobody cared if he was a good gift wrapper. >> you can be the judge. i thought he did fantastic.

>> they were just happy to get a glimpse of this mega star. >> he was gracious enough to sign it and it was very sweet of him. >> and store owners are graftful for the message he's helping to get out. >> it gets the word out about people need to know our neighborhoods are going to die, our local shopping is going to be gone. people need to know how important that is that if you don't sustain your local businesses, they'll be gone. >> i think it's a message you have to sort of keep putting out there. >> which he's doing one gift wrapped gift at a time. >> thank you so much for joining us today here in millford, connecticut. if you missed anything from today's show, just head on over to our website. it's openforum.com/yourbusiness. you'll find all of today's segments, plus a lot more information to help your business grow. you can also follow us on twitter @msnbcyourbusiness and

we're on facebook and instagram, too. coming up next week, a laundry service in order to save money in order to get preparation for investors. >> people have been initially skeptical on whether this is a gimmick or whether it is a real business. and i think every time we have shown them it is a real business. >> find out how cutting out the fluff saved their business. until then, i'm j.j. ramberg. remember, shop local on small business saturday. this business means everything in that its how i care for my family. what you spend in the community stays in the community. we're all independent folks. but, you know, one store on a block can't make it

without other stores. you can't swim alone. republicans arguing about immigration with each other. all right, good morning. thanks for getting up with us this sunday morning. a lot of politics to get to, including, not limited to, the wait continuing in ferguson, missouri, for that grand jury decision. a little twist to tell you about overnight. a busy week for hillary clinton and we're excited to have on the show this morning, very excited to have with us terry anderson who is going to be discuss u.s. hostage policy and whether it should change now that we're confronting isis, the question of paying ran f