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Intuit Launches 'Love A Local Business' Sweepstakes

Posted by Gayle Kesten Tuesday, Jul 21, 2009, 10:34 PM ET

One week after I had my teeth cleaned by a dentist recommended to me by a friend, she received a $25 Starbucks gift card from the office thanking her for the referral. I also received a thank-you note for my patronage, along with an offer for a free dental visit for a family member. That visit, too, was followed with a letter of appreciation.

This, I promise, was a story I planned to share before learning about Intuit's "Love a Local Business" sweepstakes, which calls for "fans of local small businesses" to nominate their favorites (U.S.-based). Those small businesses, in turn, become eligible to win one of 30 $1,000 Intuit Growth Grants, comprising a $500 Visa gift card and $500 worth of preselected Intuit products and business services. Intuit will randomly select five winners each week (on Sunday) during the six-week sweepstakes.

Not a bad incentive to help support local businesses. Neither is this one: Intuit points to a September 2008 CivicWorks study of Western Michigan that found a mere 10% shift in consumer behavior toward local businesses would add around $137 million to the local economy and create more than 1,600 new jobs.

Worth noting: You can nominate yourself. The tricky part is you're capped at 250 characters -- less than two tweets -- to express why you love serving your community and customers. Intuit also created a widget (below) for the sweepstakes, so you might consider posting that to your Web site or blog as a way to get your fan base to show their love.

"Strong local businesses help build strong communities," said Justin Kitch, chief growth officer of Intuit's Small Business Group, in a statement. "We hope that these communities will rally together to not only help their favorite businesses win a growth grant, but to share with each other what makes these businesses special and unique."

As with any contest, make sure to read the fine print and legalese.




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