WEEK 2
1 week passed | 51 weeks remain
Jan 12 – Monday
MARKETING: Contact florists, spas, restaurants, or boutique hotels for Valentine’s Day cross-promotions (buy earrings, get a free massage?).
FINANCE: Calculate retirement needs minus current savings. That terrifying gap is your new North Star for every business decision.
FEATURED DATE: It’s the 60th Anniversary of the Batman Series Premiere. For a show that lasted only three seasons, Adam West’s Batman became a lasting cultural phenomenon. If you’re a fan, throw a fancy dress party — send Bat-vites, serve Batfood, invite customers to come as their favorite character. POW! BAM! ZONK!
MORE DATES: Kiss a Ginger Day, National Hot Tea Day, National Curried Chicken Day, National Youth Day, National Pharmacist Day, National Marzipan Day, National Kettlebell Day, Stick to Your New Year’s Resolution Day, Work Harder Day, Remembrance Day.
Advertisement
Jan 13 – Tuesday
INVENTORY: Review unfulfilled wish lists. If items are a year or older, call clients and offer a discount.
FINANCES: Get an early start on taxes — owners average 40+ hours on federal filings. File as soon as you have paperwork to beat identity thieves.
MORE DATES: National Rubber Ducky Day, National Peach Melba Day, Make Your Dream Come True Day, National Clean Your Desk Day, National Gluten-Free Day, National Sticker Day, Korean American Day, Poetry Break Day, Public Radio Broadcasting Day.
Jan 14 – Wednesday
STRATEGY: Pin down your one customer-valued difference. A quirky trait doesn’t matter unless clients care.
CUSTOMER RELATIONS: Follow up with first-time December buyers with a nice-to-meet-you offer tied to Valentine’s Day.
FEATURED DATE: Mark National Dress Up Your Pet Day by encouraging all of your clients to share photos of their pets specially outfitted to win a prize. “77 percent of US households own a pet,” says Megan Crabtree, president of Crabtree Consulting, “Capitalize on this and you should have a volume of participants” on your social media channels.
MORE DATES: National Dress Up Your Pet Day, National Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day, International Kite Day, National Shop For Travel Day, Organize Your Home Day, Poetry At Work Day, Printing Ink Day, Ratification Day, World Logic Day.
Advertisement
Jan 15 – Thursday
PLANNING: Calculate your Profit Freedom Day. Which day do expenses stop and profits start? Mark it on everyone’s calendar.
FINANCE: Review insurance coverage this week. You’re overinsured somewhere, underinsured elsewhere – guaranteed.
FEATURED DATE: On Get to Know Your Customer Day, give your sales associates an allowance to take a customer out to lunch. Their goal should be to learn about them, not to sell them. This quarterly “holiday” falls on the third Thursday of January, April, July, and October.
FEATURED DATE: On National Bagel Day, pick up bagels for your staff. Even more importantly, have everyone on your team use their social media platform to share (and tag) their favorite bagel shop and their go-to order.
MORE DATES: Wikipedia Day, National Hat Day, National Fresh-Squeezed Juice Day, National Strawberry Ice Cream Day, National Pothole Day, Museum Selfie Day.
Jan 16 – Friday
STAFF: Add employees’ birthdays (and their children’s) to your calendar. Gifts and gestures win hearts and minds.
MARKETING: Your customer database should be bulging after the holidays. Hit it with a special Valentine’s offer.
FEATURED DATE: A newspaperman, no doubt with a huge ironic grin on his face, invented National Nothing Day to give Americans a break from celebrations. But why not leverage “nothing days” to drive traffic? Try something fun like “The Owner’s Away, So We’re Nearly Giving Jewelry Away!”
MORE DATES: National Fig Newton Day, International Hot And Spicy Food Day, Appreciate A Dragon Day, Book Publishers Day, National Good Teen Day, National Quinoa Day, National Religious Freedom Day.
Jan 17 – Saturday
LEADERSHIP: Block two hours over the next few days to think about where your business should be in three years. No interruptions. Just thinking.
MANAGEMENT: Boil your current strategy down to one page. If your staff can’t see it at a glance, it won’t guide them.
FEATURED DATE: Today marks Ditch Your Resolution Day, when gyms note a significant decrease in attendance and candy bar sales spike. But if you can hold on for just another week there is a good chance that desired behavior can become a much-easier-to-keep habit. Twenty-one days — that’s the magic number.
MORE DATES: Ditch New Year’s Resolution Day, National Use Your Gift Card Day, National Kid Inventors’ Day, Benjamin Franklin Day, Cable Car Day, Customer Service Day, National Bootlegger’s Day, National Hot Buttered Rum Day, National Lose The Jet Lag Day, Popeye Day.
Advertisement
Jan 18 – Sunday
STRATEGY: Write a five-year plan. Most jewelers who do end up hitting their goals faster than they thought.
STRATEGY: Identify three things to focus on that will move the dial this year (e.g., increasing platinum sales, raising repair margins, improving store culture).
FEATURED DATE: Today marks the start of Healthy Weight Week. Not only does shedding a few pounds have health benefits and business benefits (overweight business owners are considered less competent, say studies), but there are marketing angles to explore as well. Over the years, Oletowne Jewelers in York, PA, has teamed up with a local community center for a Biggest Loser style competition in which the winner gets a free diamond that reflects his or her weight loss. In one year that was a 69-point diamond ring to a local man who lost 69 pounds. The contest gained region-wide media coverage.
MORE DATES: National Winnie the Pooh Day (A.A. Milne’s Birthday), National Gourmet Coffee Day, National Thesaurus Day, National Peking Duck Day, Soap Swap Day, Healthy Weight Week begins.
