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A Year’s Worth of Holiday Promotions for Your Business

Guest post by: MIchael Daley

Article Overview: Grab your customers' attention with creative promotions that tie into 12 months worth of holidays and celebrations. There is a special day everyday and one for everyone.

A Year’s Worth of Holiday Promotions for Your Business

It’s November and most small business owners are just beginning to think about their Christmas or year end promotions. Some might be ahead of the game and are actually developing their 2011 plan in conjunction with an annual business plan. But most, because of the demands of running a small business, do their marketing from month to month. I remember being a consultant in the car industry and calling on dealerships who would tell the newspaper to run the same ad each week while the manager just changed the price points and replaced the vehicles. Other dealerships would plan a special event promotion several months out. Included in this would be ordering a number of special vehicles to feature in ads, some with extra, discounted equipment or special paint schemes. They would plan their advertising brand campaign, media frequency, salesperson incentives, special events at the dealership, and a prospect solicitation campaign well in advance of the vehicles being shipped. The latter dealerships would create excitement for both the staff and the customers. In most cases the dealership would have a substantial sales increase; while the other dealership that just changed the weekly ad would do business as usual. Today marketing has changed with social media, websites, email blasts, etc. But the marketing principle is still the same in small business. Taking the time to plan a special event in advance can help boost business, employee excitement, and take the worry out of many last minute details. Since we are entering the holiday season, think about all the holidays in 2011 and time your promotions around these days. In fact, there is a holiday for everyday. January: This is National Blood Donor Month. Why not have a bloodmobile come to your business and offer discounts to anyone who donates? February: Valentine’s Day, Groundhog Day, and President’s Day. Maybe an A/C-Heating company could offer a discounted heating check up to get people through 6 more weeks of winter. March: Mardi Gras is March 8 in 2011, St. Patrick’s Day, and March 21 which is the first day of Spring. April: April Fools Day, Easter is April 24, Earth Day, and Administrative Professionals’ Day (formerly Secretaries’ Day). Small businesses can stimulate ideas for executives, for instance a spa can offer a gift package for Administrative Assistants. May: Mother’s Day is May 8, Memorial Day, National Teachers Day, Cinquo de Mayo, Armed Forces Day, and Nurses Day. June: Father’s Day is June 19, summer officially begins June 21. July: July is national Ice Cream Month, July 4 is Independence Day, and here’s a unique one, July 31 is Mutt’s Day. How about a tie in with an animal shelter? August: Not much happening here but don’t forget your back-to-school push. Here are a couple of promotion days: August 21, National Senior Citizens Day and August 26 is National Dog Day. September: Labor Day is September 5; the first day of fall is September 21 October: Halloween, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, National Diabetes Month, World Teacher’s Day October 5, Bosses Day October 16. November: Thanksgiving, Veteran’s Day, Child Safety Protection Month December: Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, First Day of Winter, New Year’s Eve So if you think the holiday season for small business starts at Halloween and ends on New Year’s Day, think again. There are many holidays and whole months that provide special hooks for a small business to hang a promotion around. The trick is to plan everything: budgets, media, creative theme, timing, target market, and most important the special prices or services to be offered. Have fun and sell, sell, sell!

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Article Tags: celebration, christmas, holiday, labor day, marketing plan, national blood donor month, national ice cream month, nurses day, promotion, small business



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Exclusive: Interview with Results - Hi Forum Members, I'm helping start up a Business Coaching and Consulting company here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (a Subsidiary of RSC Business in Los Angeles). As a Research and Development Intern I am required to practice my listening and interview skills by surveying Small and Medium Businesses on thier Business. This Survey is designed by RSC Business to also assist the Business being interviewed more insight into their own business. I am looking to interview about 30 businesses across North America over the span of 3 months. At the end of these interviews I will be publishing a report of the results and they will be made available for free to the Interviewees. The Report data will include responses from a minimum of 100 interviews. I would like to extend this opportunity to members of the Forum. If you would like to have this short 20-30 minute interview conducted on your Business and you reside in North America please send me an email or PM. Please contact me at andy[at]jvprosperity[dot]com to arrange our interview and to get free access to the results when they are published.
Happy New Years! - Happy Belated New Years! Out of curiosity what are your new years resolutions for your business? Did anyone manage to honour their past resolutions?


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