If you are working today, this post may be for you.
But first, a history lesson, because I’m a geek that way.
Most people probably know that Memorial Day and Labor Day were not created as bookends to the unofficial summer season. Unfortunately that doesn’t mean that most people know the history of those holidays.
As an unapologetic history nerd, here’s a link to the story, as told by the U.S. Department of Labor: http://www.dol.gov/laborday/history.htm
And on an almost completely unrelated topic, PBS is releasing the re-mastered “The Civil War” beginning tonight. If you’ve yet to see Ken Burns’ groundbreaking series, shame on you. Check out the story on remastering a masterpiece: http://tinyurl.com/pwstpx6
Now, back to Marketing Monday!
If you are working today, thank you. More than likely you are in a job that makes it possible for millions of other people to have just about anything and everything at their fingertips for the holiday. If you are hoping to snag tourists at your restaurant, bakery or specialty store, I hope you’ve had a steady stream of customers.
Labor Day marks the start of the sprint to the finish for retailers everywhere. Maybe this year you meant to tear yourself away from the everyday bustle of the business in order to develop a marketing plan, explore online opportunities or rally the retailers in your area for a blow-out holiday promotion.
If some of that happened, good for you! If not so much of that happened, don’t beat yourself up, and don’t throw in the towel just yet.
Small Business Saturday is Nov. 29.
American Express is the “proud sponsor” of Small Business Saturday, and I’m sure they’d love nothing more than for you to start accepting their cards from customers, as well as, you starting a small-business account with them, but you don’t need either of those things to take advantage of the website, shopsmall.com.
There’s a section on how to rally merchants and the community together to make the day fun and rewarding. The recommendations don’t come from some snooty economist or the like, they come from people just like you who got together, decided to try something new, and it worked.
If nothing else, visiting this site should get your creative juices flowing to generate your own ideas. You are the expert on your business, sometimes it’s just a matter of taking the time to step away from the store, the cash register or the computer to think about these things.
Find a quiet place, grab a cup of coffee and a legal pad and get thinking now. The grunt work comes in November but you should have your plans and your print promotion and advertising mapped out and budgeted by Oct.1 at the latest.
Happy Labor Day.
