The 3/50 Project started as a quick blog post by retail consultant and speaker, Cindy Baxter. Baxter was watching Oprah's talk show when Suze Orman was the guest telling viewers to cut out unnecessary spending in order to save money and help the economy. Baxter disagreed and posted "Oprah, you've got it wrong," in a blog entry, not knowing the post would launch a thousand e-mails and a new business venture.
Baxter's glob entry suggested an alternative: Pick three locally owned stores you don't want to see go away. Spend $50 a month among them. Keep local businesses humming. From there the idea went viral. Marketing expert Seth Godin stumbled across Baxter's blog and endorsed the 3/50 Project. Word spread quickly on Twitter. Businesses and individuals across the country became Facebook fans by the hundreds. Flooded with requests for more information, Baxter threw up a website and put together a ready-made marketing campaign that small business could download for free. She encouraged businesses to feature the 3/50 Project logo on their websites and to get fliers into the hands of customers who might not realize the power of their purse.
Baxter's fliers quote studies by civic Economics, an economic analysis consulting firm. That found that for every $100 spent in independently owned stores, $68 comes back to the community through taxes, payroll and other expenditures. National chains contribute to about $43.
I wanted to inspire all of you to voice your opinions and ideas, either through social media or another outlet. Things can happen if you just speak up. This blog post was inspired by reading the Star Tribune this morning. Check out the article printed in today's Business Insider Section for more info.
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