Weekly Dates and To-Dos: March 23-29 (Week 12 of 52)

WEEK 12

11 weeks passed | 41 weeks remain

You’ll find the answer to March’s “Mystery Date” quiz on our March 28 entry.

Mar 23 – Monday

Today’s Quote: “If you want to test your memory, try to recall what you were worrying about one year ago today.” — E. Joseph Cossman

FEATURED DATE: National Puppy Day! Get your Instagram ready. What’s cuter than a pup in pearls? If you’ve got a shop dog, today is their day to shine. If you don’t, invite customers to bring theirs in for a photo op. Post the best shots with a tag. Pet content consistently outperforms product content on social media — and once they’re in the store with the dog, they’re browsing.

MARKETING: Start preparing your Mother’s Day storytelling now — don’t wait until late April. Begin the project of collecting memories staff members or local moms sharing their favorite jewelry pieces and what they mean to them. Record short video testimonials. Authentic voices beat generic “Buy for Mom” ads every time. The stores that start early with emotional content capture the most intentional buyers.

30-DAY VIDEO CHALLENGE: Week 4 begins. Theme: find your voice. Experiment with different formats. Try a Q&A. Try a “day in the life.” Try a customer testimonial (with permission). Try humor. By now, someone on your team is emerging as your on-camera natural. Lean into that. (Read more.)

WEEKLY SPIFF: New game: Favorite Piece Weekend. Have all staff members pick a favorite piece and try to sell it.

MORE DATES: National Near Miss Day (dig up a recent “near miss” sale and autopsy it at the morning meeting — what could have saved it?), National Chip and Dip Day, World Meteorological Day

Mar 24 – Tuesday

Today’s Quote: “I think and think for months and years. Ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right.” — Albert Einstein

SALES MEETING: Tuesday meeting topic: “10 Negotiation Traps and How to Escape”.

MANAGEMENT: Download a time tracker app and log your week. Most owners discover they spend a shocking amount of time on tasks that could be delegated or eliminated. You don’t need to change anything yet — just observe. Awareness is the first step. Try Toggl (free tier) or even a simple notebook.

FEATURED DATE: National Cocktail Day. Here’s a twist: partner with a local bar or restaurant for a cross-promotion. They feature a “signature cocktail” for the night; you provide a gift card as a raffle prize. Each business promotes the other. It’s low-cost, community-focused, and introduces your store to an audience that might never walk in otherwise.

OPERATIONS: Check your emergency contacts list. Is it current? Does every employee have one? Does your alarm company have the right numbers? Spring is a good time for this housekeeping — it takes 10 minutes and could matter enormously.

Mar 25 – Wednesday

Today’s Quote: “It is never too late to be what you might have been.” — George Eliot

UPCOMING MARKETING: World Diamond Day is April 8, two weeks from today. If you’re looking to celebrate natural diamonds in your store, now is a good time to start collecting stories (staff and customer personal moments like engagements and anniversaries as well as stories of meaningful heirloom jewelry). Find more resources to promote the day here.

COMMUNICATION: Write your store’s vision in one paragraph. Read it to three employees. If they look confused, rewrite it. A vision that can’t be explained in 30 seconds isn’t a vision — it’s a wish.

INVENTORY: Run a report on your top 20 sellers from the last quarter. Are they all in stock? Are they displayed prominently? Your proven winners deserve the best real estate in the store. Don’t bury them in the back case.

MORE DATES: International Waffle Day (treat the staff!), National Medal of Honor Day, International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery

Mar 26 – Thursday

Today’s Quote: “Remember that happiness is a way of travel, not a destination.” — Roy Goodman

FEATURED DATE: National Spinach Day. Here’s the “Spinach Day” concept: make your team do the hard thing first today. The call you’ve been avoiding, the display you’ve been meaning to reorganize, the vendor you need to fire. Get it done before lunch. The rest of the day feels lighter. Spinach Day is about eating your vegetables — in business, that means tackling the uncomfortable tasks that make everything else easier.

LEADERSHIP: Shadow your top performer for an hour. Watch what they do differently — how they approach, how they listen, how they close. Write it down. Then teach what you observed to everyone else. Your best practices are already in the building. You just need to extract and share them.

MORE DATES: Purple Day, Make Up Your Own Holiday Day, National Legal Assistants Day

Mar 27 – Friday

Today’s Quote: “The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work.” — Richard Bach

MARKETING: Create and print a “bounce back” flyer with a special offer that’s available only in May. Place this in the bag with all purchases in April.

WEEKLY SPIFF: If you launch spiffs every Friday, this week’s game is “Favorite Piece Weekend”. Have all staff members pick a favorite piece and try to sell it for an extra commission.

SOCIAL MEDIA: Script a strong hook for your next video. The first 3 seconds determine whether anyone watches. Examples: “Three mistakes people make when buying an engagement ring” or “The one thing most people don’t know about gold.” Open with the hook, then deliver. Practice it today so you’re ready to record Monday.

STRATEGY: Start an idea piggybank. When a good idea comes up that you can’t act on right now, write it down and put it in a jar (literal or digital). Review it monthly. Good ideas that aren’t timely today become great ideas when the timing is right.

MORE DATES: National Joe Day (tell the Joes in your database that you’re thinking about them!), National Scribble Day, World Theatre Day

Mar 28 – Saturday

Today’s Quote: “We see things not as they are, but as we are.” — H.M. Tomlinson

MYSTERY DATE: Lady Gaga turns 40 today. Amongst her many achievements in the world of fashion and jewelry, in 2019, she became only the third woman ever to wear Tiffany’s legendary 128-carat yellow diamond — joining sociality Mrs. E. Sheldon Whitehouse, who wore it in 1957, and actress Audrey Hepburn, who wore it in 1961. (Beyonce became the fourth woman to wear it in 2021.)

MARKETING: Your best customers are your current customers. Pull up your top 200 accounts. How many have you contacted in the last 90 days? Draft a plan to reach out to the ones you haven’t. A personal phone call or handwritten note from the owner — not a blast email — is worth ten times the effort.

PERSONAL: Break a routine today. Drive a different route to work. Hold your staff meeting in the break room instead of the office. Rearrange a case. Small disruptions to your patterns shake loose fresh perspectives. Shaking the tree in new ways brings fresh apples.

MORE DATES: National Black Forest Cake Day (yum!)

Mar 29 – Sunday

Today’s Quote: “All our dreams can come true — if we have the courage to pursue them.” — Walt Disney

FEATURED DATE: Palm Sunday. For Christian customers, this is the beginning of Holy Week — the most sacred time of the year. Cross pendants, religious medals, and faith-inspired jewelry should be front and center in your cases. Some customers give gifts during Holy Week; make sure they can find them easily.

FEATURED DATE: National Mom and Pop Business Owners Day. This is your origin-story day. Feature your family photos. Share your founding story. Thank customers by name. Post about what “independent” means to you. Being small used to feel like a liability against the big boxes. Now it’s the brand. Lean into it — hard.

MORE DATES: National Vietnam War Veterans Day, National Lemon Chiffon Cake Day