Tag Archives: week

Everything Else

Marketing and Promotional Ideas for 2012

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Now is the time to start planning your promotional calendar for 2012.

Use these “Holidays” as special sales promotions in the upcoming year.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

January

New Years Day
College Football
New Year’s Resolutions
Martin Luther King
Super Bowl
Back to School – 2nd Semester
Bank Holiday (UK)

February

Ground Hog Day
Mardi Gras
President’s Day
Valentine’s Day
Daytona 500
February Sweeps for Television
Black History Month

March

St. Patrick’s Day
Passover
Easter
First Day of Spring
March Madness
Academy Awards
Spring Break with the Family!
End Q1

April

Baseball Opening Day
Good Friday
April Fool’s Day
Tax Day
Earth Day
Master’s (Golf)
Prom

May

Cinco de Mayo
Mother’s Day
Graduation
Victoria Day (Canada)
Memorial Day
Spring Bank Holiday (UK)
Kentucky Derby
Season Finales for Television
Teacher Appreciation Week
National Small Business Week

June

Father’s Day
NBA Playoffs
NHL Playoffs
Flag Day
Graduation / School’s Out
First Day of Summer
Time to Take a Vacation!
U.S. Open (Golf)
Wimbledon (Tennis)
End Q2

July

Independence Day
Canada Day
Summer Fun

August

Back to School
Tax-Free Sales Events
End of Summer
College Football

September

Labor Day
NFL Opens
First Day of Fall
End Q3

October

Columbus Day
World Series
Thanksgiving Day (Canada)
Red Ribbon Week
National Boss Day
National Book Month
Halloween

November

Election Day
Veteran’s Day
Thanksgiving Day
Black Friday (Busiest Shopping Day)
November Sweeps for Television
NBA
NHL
Global Entrepreneurship Week

December

First Day of Winter
Christmas
Boxing Day
Happy Holidays
College Football
New Year Resolutions
New Years Eve
End Q4
End of Year

If you need any help getting more ideas together, let me know!

Offline Promotions

When to Hold Your Seminar: Which Day of the Week Is Best for Your Seminar?

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by Jenny Hamby

One common question faced by new seminar promoters is determining what day of the week they should hold their event. Here are some points to consider as you make important scheduling decisions.

If your attendees are primarily employees whose employers are footing the bill for their participation, hold the event during the workweek. In this scenario, attending your seminar is training, which most participants would reasonably expect to occur during the workweek.

When narrowing in on specific days, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday tend to be better than Mondays and Fridays. If Friday is the last or only day of your seminar, be forewarned that the promise of a relaxing weekend will start calling by mid-afternoon. Don’t be surprised if participants’ attention starts fading in the afternoon or if some attendees even leave early.

Holding your seminar on a Friday may hurt your registration numbers a bit: If participants have weekend plans, they may not want to commit to sitting in a seminar until the end of the workday, especially if their weekend plans include travel.

Mondays also pose a challenge in that it’s the start of the workweek. This can impact registration numbers, as some participants will not want to be out of the office on the first, often busy, day of the week.

Fridays and Mondays pose an added challenge if your attendees must travel a great distance to get to your seminar. If they must dip into weekend time to get to or from your event, they may think twice about attending. To counteract this objection, hold your seminar in a tourist-friendly city and sell the destination. For example, Dr. Ralph Elliott’s upcoming Continuing Education Marketing Conference is being held on a Monday and Tuesday (August 30-31, http://www.clemsonconferences.com/). By holding the seminar in the heart of Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, close to Lake Michigan, shopping, museums and other attractions, he’s leveraging the city’s appeal to attract participants to that particular event.

If, on the other hand, your audience consists primarily of people who can’t take time off during the workweek, test holding your event over a weekend. For example, many business owners don’t want to be away from their companies during the week. Another common example is people who are attending your seminar out of their personal interest vs. having their employers pay for their registration. Needing to take vacation time to attend a seminar may be enough to keep someone from registering for your event.

Whether Saturday or Sunday is best for your audience is something to test. A Sunday seminar may conflict with some of your audiences’ religious practices. However, some promoters are finding that Sundays are better because their prospects are busy with family activities on Saturdays.

A good way to identify which days are best for your seminars is to ask your audience. Send a poll to your mailing list and ask them to vote for their preference. Better yet, if you have specific dates in mind, ask for their input about which dates would work best.

As you move forward, be sure to take notes about which days you are scheduling your seminar and how many registrations you generate for each event. Over time, you may be able to spot a distinct winner in terms of which days are best for your topic and your audience.

About the Author

Jenny Hamby is a Certified Guerrilla Marketer and copywriter who helps consultants, speakers, and coaches promote their own seminars, workshops, teleseminars and webinars. Get your free copy of her e-course, 31 Secrets to Jumpstart Your Seminar Promotions.

Everything Else

7 Ways to Make New Year’s Resolutions That Stick

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by Maria Gracia

New Year’s resolutions have a tendency to be made with enthusiasm and determination. Unfortunately, very often they’re forgotten by the time February rolls around.

Here are 7 simple ways to make New Year’s resolutions that stick and help you accomplish your goals.

  • THINK SHORT TERM. For most people, making a resolution for the entire year is way too difficult. Instead, make your resolutions once per month; January resolutions, February resolutions, etc. They’re much easier to achieve and the accomplishments can be celebrated sooner. Plus, if you don’t quite reach what you want to accomplish in any given month, you can simply move that resolution into the next month–no more feeling so guilty that you have to wait an entire year to start over again!
  • FOCUS ON A FEW. It’s nearly impossible to do everything you’ve always wanted to do in a short period of time. To be sure you don’t forget about the goals you’d like to accomplish, write them all down on a Master Goals List. Then, each month throughout the year, focus on the one or two that are most important to you. You won’t get overwhelmed and you’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish.
  • MAKE YOUR RESOLUTIONS S-M-A-R-T:
    • SPECIFIC: Your resolutions must be specific. For instance, saying that you’d like to spend more time with your kids in the new year is too general. However, saying that you vow to spend 1 hour of quality time with your kids each Friday and Wednesday, immediately following dinner, is very concrete and specific.
    • MEASUREABLE: Resolutions that are worked on and achieved, are those that can be measured and tracked. When you think of making a resolution, think in terms of numbers. Perhaps you’d like to lose weight. Thinking in numbers, you might state that you’d like to lose 5 pounds–1 pound per month for the next 5 months. Or possibly you’d like to go on a short vacation. Thinking in numbers, you may state that you’d like to save $100 per month, so you can go on a bed and breakfast weekend in June.
    • ATTAINABLE: You can certainly make challenging resolutions, but don’t make them so difficult that they’re going to be almost impossible to achieve. You can always break your resolution down into smaller goals. For instance, if you’d like to put aside $50 per month, make a resolution to set aside $12.50 per week.
    • REALISTIC: You might want to be a pro golfer this year, but if you haven’t even started training yet, then this resolution is going to be unrealistic and unattainable. Instead, set more realistic goals, such as taking a few basic golf lessons or playing golf once per week on Tuesdays for practice.
    • TIMELY: The word ‘someday’ is indefinite. Yet, often people say they have so many things they’d like to accomplish … someday. Resolutions with no start or end date in mind never get accomplished. Be sure all of your resolutions have both a deadline, and a starting date. For example, you might say you’d like to change your job. Your deadline might be March, 2001, and your start date might be next week–determining what you’d like to do, seeking available positions, etc.
  • TELL THE WORLD. It’s so important to be motivated about the things you’d like to accomplish. When you make a resolution, tell your spouse or a friend. Post a message on a discussion forum. Tell a co-worker. You’ll be more determined to accomplish your goal, if other people are cheering you on.
  • GIVE YOURSELF SOME VISUALS. If you’re constantly staring your resolution in the face every day, you’re bound to keep it uppermost in your mind. If you’d like to lose weight, keep a photo of an actress or actor you want to use as a model, on your refrigerator. Want to go on a vacation? Post a photograph of your dream destination where you’re sure to see it throughout the day.
  • CONQUER MINOR SETBACKS. There are so many things going on in your daily life, and you may experience a day or two when you lose track of the resolutions you set. That’s ok. Get right back on track. No need to wait until next year, or the 1st of next month. Simply make any day of the week DAY ONE, and begin working on your resolution again. Winston Churchill once said, in the shortest speech ever made, ‘Never, never, never give up.’ Heed his words of wisdom.
  • CELEBRATE YOUR WINS. Celebrating your accomplishments along the way will give you the motivation to keep going! Set appropriate rewards for each mini-resolution you make, and have a small celebration for each one you achieve. Let’s say you’d like to put aside $10 per week in January. For every $10 you’re able to save at the end of each week, you might indulge yourself in an hour’s worth of free time to enjoy one of your hobbies. Reward yourself. You deserve it!

    • by Maria Gracia – Get Organized Now!™
    Want to get organized? Get your FREE Get Organized Now!™ Idea-Pak, filled with tips and ideas to help you organize your home, your office and your life, at the Get Organized Now!™ Web site
    http://www.getorganizednow.com