It's official. The holiday season has begun. For many businesses-small and not so small, this is the season that counts. And that's why we're supporting Small Business Saturday. It's the Saturday after Thanksgiving, launched by American Express, to remind holiday shoppers not to forget about small businesses in the midst of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

So what can small businesses do to help take advantage of the big day and the season at hand? Paul Jankowski offers some great tips in his Forbes blog, including taking advantage of social media. For those who get the value of technology, seizing opportunities comes easier.

Yet, according to Hiten Samtani's recent piece on entrepreneur.com, many SMBs have little or no presence on social media, and 98 percent of business websites haven't been optimized for shoppers using mobile devices (check out the great infographic in his blog).

That's unfortunate, given that technology is what helps small businesses compete on the same playing field as the big ones. The key is to have the right technology in place to connect people with information, securely. Not just to handle transactions, but to also help optimize productivity; so that employees and business partners can work together effectively from wherever, and customers can shop and buy from wherever.

As you head into Thanksgiving (and beyond), think about how technology could better connect your employees and your customers. Then think about what that would mean in terms of business performance.

Best wishes for a happy Thanksgiving.