With more and more small businesses popping up daily, it’s not surprising that sometimes, it can feel as though some just never get found online. It’s easier to start a business than ever before, but being visible online feels like it’s harder than ever.

If you’re a small business owner, I know how hard it can be. Social media is flooded with posts, with more appearing in our feeds and timelines literally by the second. It can be overwhelming. But remember, your success on social media doesn’t have to define you or your business.

Even if you’re not a small business owner, I’m sure you can think back to a time when you were maybe starting something new, or trying to get a message out to others which meant a lot to you.

But, the great news is that there are lots of fantastic things we can all do today to support small businesses, and most of them don’t even cost a penny!

If you’re a small business owner, then one of the best things you can do is to be visible online supporting others just like you. When we pull together and support each other, we can achieve so much more than we could ever dream. Even if you’re not a small business owner, there are still things we can all do to help, and again, most of them don’t cost us much in either time or money.

Supporting small businesses, whether they’re online businesses or businesses with a physical location local to you, is a great way to interact, make new contacts and friends, and support your community.

Below are five really simple ways you can support small businesses. These small, but mighty things, are all really simple things we can do today at almost no cost to ourselves. 

Share their posts on social media

With over 4 billion social media users all over the world, sometimes even just one retweet and one share can make all the difference to a small business. Plus, all it takes is a few seconds to do it! It’s a really great way to support small businesses because you just never know who amongst your followers might be interested in the products or services they offer. Whether it’s through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or even Pinterest, a share, a retweet, or a pin to a Pinterest board can make all the difference, and help a business to grow and be visible online. 

Leave a review

A review doesn’t have to be left just in response to buying a product or a service! Leaving a review on a website, on Google, or on a small business’s Facebook page can also be for any content that you have enjoyed, perhaps things that you really love that the business offers, such as online content, a newsletter, blog posts and more. A review can give a small business a huge boost, plus it helps to let that business know that you appreciate what they are doing, and also for other people to see who might be interested in that business too. 

Buy a virtual coffee

Sometimes you may find that a small growing business has an option to buy them a virtual coffee through a website such as Ko-Fi or Buy Me a Coffee. Some have subscription options through websites such as Patreon. By buying them a virtual coffee, this can help to support a business financially, especially when there are a lot of hidden costs that people don’t always necessarily think about, such as web hosting, domain name renewal, newsletter subscription fees, website plugins and more. Believe me, it can soon add up! But buying a virtual coffee, even for just a £1 or two, can help a small business in so many ways financially, and it’s always very much appreciated. 

Are you a Christian Church, community, business or individual and are wanting to create an effective online presence? I have a free download just for you. When you sign up to my mailing list you’ll receive my 7 Quick Steps For Reviewing Your Social Media Channels download, to help and inspire you in your online and social media journey. You’ll also receive my monthly Little Notes of Light newsletter too! Click here to sign up.

Sign up to their mailing list

Signing up to a mailing list is a great way to support a small business. It’s not healthy for any small business to rely entirely on social media to reach potential customers and clients. As we’ve seen recently, changes to social media platforms can have a huge impact on those who use them, and the worst thing of all, we have no control over it. Being part of a small business’s mailing list helps them to grow without being reliant on social media. I don’t know about you, but getting a really lovely, beautifully crafted newsletter in my inbox is as exciting as getting post through the letterbox. Plus it’s a great way to find out more about what they are up to, what they are offering and also to receive exclusive content that is only available to subscribers. Plus, if you find something in a newsletter that you feel may help someone else, you’re able to simply pass on and forward the email. Sometimes you can find some great offers and deals in a newsletter that are not available anywhere else! Importantly, being part of a mailing list allows you to connect with small businesses at a deeper level than is possible amidst the constant noise of social media.

Leave a comment

As a small business owner myself, along with all the above too, leaving a comment can be very valuable. It might be a comment on a blog post, or a comment in reply to a social media post. It shows a small business owner that you appreciate what they are doing, it helps their posts to get noticed by other people, helps to drive traffic, gets a conversation going, and helps to create engagement which leads to growth. I love receiving comments on my posts! At a really basic level, it’s a great way to let a small business know that you have seen their posts! Plus, you never know who you might meet in the comments. Maybe there are new friendships to be forged?

When you’ve read this post, maybe you could spare just another five minutes to support some small businesses online. Could you:

• Share one of their posts to your Facebook feed or your business’s Facebook page
• Retweet one of their posts to your followers on Twitter
• Share a post on Instagram to your Stores
• Think of a small business you’ve really enjoyed buying from or working with and leave them a review on their Facebook page or on Google
• See if any of your favourite small businesses have the option to buy them a virtual coffee, why not support them in that way? It can often cost less than buying a coffee in a shop for yourself!
• Sign up to a mailing list to support a small business whose content you enjoy
• Check out a small business’s recent social media posts and leave some comments. Tell them what you enjoyed about them, or maybe even ask a question!

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I also thought I would share a few of my favourite small businesses in this post too, who I really love. There are also many more small businesses that I love, and I really want to list them all, but there’s just too many to mention in this blog post. But I’m sure you will see them mentioned over on my social media channels and on my blog.

Bespoke, Lichfield

Bespoke in Lichfield is a wonderful and friendly little shop found in the town centre. You can also find them over on Instagram and Facebook too. The shop inside is filled with beautifully hand-crafted and hand-painted products by different local artists and other small business owners. David and I love visiting the shop and we really love looking at new stock that comes in over on their Instagram page. We’ve actually picked up quite a few gifts from there for Christmas and birthdays. 

Our Kindred

Charlie, who runs and owns Our Kindred, is a talented brand and website designer and photographer. She also creates beautifully crafted Squarespace website templates. Charlie designed all of the logos and branding which you now see on my website. It was such a joy to work with Charlie and she knew exactly what I was looking for when it came to my branding. I highly recommend checking out Charlie’s beautiful Instagram feed.

David Barton Music

Many of you already know my husband, David. David is a piano, flute and singing teacher. He also composes music and does commissions. He does teacher mentoring and more too! Plus you can find lots of reviews on his blog. Not only does David teach here in Lichfield, he also teaches online, so you can learn from the comfort of your own home. I’m incredibly proud of him, and he works so hard daily. His love for what he does shows so much in all aspects of his business. Plus, I highly recommend checking out David’s Instagram page for lots of beautiful floral photos, fascinating posts, and cake!

Wallace & Wild

Christina, and her husband Chris (also known as Wallace & Wild), are amazing photographers. Christina actually took the photos for our engagement photoshoot, and the branding photos that you see on my website. Christina and Chris also took all of our wedding photos which was a real joy. I always find Christina’s posts on Instagram to be very inspiring, and also her love for God which shines through. Plus, the photos on their Instagram page are just so beautiful. David and I both loved having Christina and Chris take our photos; they both made us feel at ease, and we had such an amazing and fun time.

Kate Farrell

Kate is an incredible website designer. She actually created the very website that you are on right now! Kate also designed David’s website and his branding. It was so good working with Kate on my website, and she knew exactly what I was looking for. She helped me a lot on my website journey, not just creating it but everything else besides! She answered my many questions, helped me to get to know my new website better, and also helped me change over of my hosting and domain name.

Melbourne, Lichfield

Melbourne in Lichfield is a fabulous, quirky, and welcoming coffee shop here in Lichfield. They sell lots of delicious sweet and savoury treats, and hot and cold drinks. They also create lots of fun flavours which you can find in their cakes and biscuits. We recently had a very yummy raspberry and white chocolate cookie that had a milky bar chocolate on the front. I’ve also tried their peanut butter blondie which I really loved, and some other of their marvellous sweet creations. It’s one of our favourite places to go to in town!

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If you are looking for some inspiring and encouraging newsletters to sign up to, which also supports some more wonderful small businesses, here are a few to check out:
Simple & Season with Kate Ferris, Creative Notes by David Barton, Ebb, Flow & Grow by Laura Greenland, and Weekly Letters by Jen Carrington. I also have a monthly newsletter called Little Notes of Light, which you can sign up to here.

I would love to know who some of your favourite small businesses are. Let me know in the comments!

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If you have enjoyed this post and any of my other content, you can support my work, business, and future content by buying me a virtual coffee. For as little as £2, this helps to support all that I do, and so I can keep creating content on my website, blog, social media channels, newsletter and more. Your support means so much to me.

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