How do you compete with the big guys?

Tell me your secrets for taking on the big-box stores on Small Business Saturday on Nov. 24 -- or on any day of the year.

While the Friday after Thanksgiving is known as the day for bargain prices at malls and big-box stores, Small Business Saturday is all about touting local businesses. This is the third year of the national shopping campaign, created to help smaller stores get a share of the multibillion-dollar holiday retail sales season. (Pictured above is a photo taken during last year's Small Business Saturday events in South End: Cheryl Dunlevy, on right, shops for a hat at The Boulevard at South End.)

For a future story and blog post, I want to hear what Charlotte-area small businesses are doing to compete with the big places.

On Small Business Saturday in particular, what are you planning to do to get people in the door? Are you offering any deals? Special shopping promotions? Or are you teaming up with other fellow small businesses that Saturday to draw people in?

And do you use these same approaches -- or do things differently -- to draw in customers during the rest of the year?

Let me hear your stories and strategies: Email me at cesmith@charlotteobserver.com, and put “Small Business Saturday” in the subject line.