October Celebrations

If you’ve been pushing to make sales goals, budget projections and production schedules, we urge you to take a break for a bit of nonsense and laughter.

But we must point out that while fun and games can boost all of the above, it can be just like a sugar high, ready for a crash.

The foundation of good morale and productivity is hiring the right people. Yes – don’t hire grumps. And the people must have clear roles, responsibities, expectations and goals. And they must receive training and coaching which includes feedback, direction, support and recognition from a trusted manager or coach.

If these aren’t in place, take a look at this e-book full of October-Only Opportunities to work on all that.

Our calendar shows several October-only opportunities for doing this. Details on a few of these are below.

In some cases, you may feel like a fool. Your teammates may roll their eyes. But they will laugh too. And that will lighten the load, break the tension and maybe even bring people closer together. Not just today – but down the road as they think about or talk about the day that ___________ (fill in the blank).

Vinnie

October 4 – Techies Day. Take your IT person or staff to lunch and promise you won’t ask for one piece of computer advice during that hour.

October 4 – World Smile Day.  For help on this, go see Vinnie. That’s him on the left.

October 13 – Columbus Day. Discover something new at your next staff meeting by having each staff member reveal something about themselves that is unknown. This is a great way to get your staff talking. End with these inspiring words from Happy Columbus Day.

October 13 – National Kick Butt Day. Offer free kickboxing classes to those who reach their sales goal for that week or month.

October 13 – Bring Your Teddy Bear to Work Day. Invite everyone to bring a teddy bear from home and tell a story for a bit of discovery like that mentioned above for Columbus Day. And/or organize a teddy bear donation (new ones only) for area hospitals, local shelters or upcoming toy drives.

October 15 – National Grouch Day. If the teddy bears didn’t get the grouch out of everyone, have a grouch session as an agenda item for your staff meeting. For ideas on this, see #6 in 10 Ways to Get & Keep the Grump Out.

October 18 – National Chocolate Cupcake Day. Okay, need we say more?

October 30 – Haunted Refrigerator Night.

October 31 – Halloween, National Candy Corn Day & National Caramel Apple Day. Bring in the ingredients to make caramel apples. You’ll feel like you’re at the State Fair.

For more help on this, go see Vinnie.

PLUS, we have the entire month of October to celebrate:

  • National Popcorn Poppin’ Month – Bring in a machine and keep things poppin’ all month. Can’t pop it at work? Buy those inexpensive tins with different flavors. You’ll be all set to gather your staff and enjoy one or more Business Class Movie of the Week.
  • National Roller Skating Month – Relive your youth. Organize an outing to a local rink.

  • National Chili Month – Nothing gets things heated up like a chili contest. Challenge your staff to bring in their favorite chili recipe and vote.
  •  Apple Month- Celebrate each Friday celebrate with an apple treat of some kind. Ask your staff to share recipes.

  • Positive Attitude Month – We got off to a good start with World Smile Day, right? Keep those posters up (from below) and if you need additional reinforcements, be sure to visit Vinnie.

Warning – Before you begin, re-read paragraphs 1 and 2.

October-Only Marketing Ideas

There are many cool opportunities to help you in the revenue department during the month of October. A potential side benefit internally…a boost to morale and productivity. All good for bottom line performance.

We’ve selected a few favorites:

  1. October 12 (observed October 13) – Columbus Day
  2. October 16 – Bosses Day
  3. October 18 – National Chocolate Cupcake Day
  4. October 30 – Haunted Refrigerator Night
  5. October 31 – Halloween, National Candy Corn Day & National Caramel Apple Day
  6. Apple Month
  7. National Book Month
  8. National Chili Month
  9. National Popcorn Poppin’ Month
  10. Women’s Small Business Month
  11. National Book Month
  12. National Pizza Month
  13. National Cookie Month

How can you use these occasions to boost business?

If you sell any of these or related products:

1. Make up gift baskets for Bosses Day and put them on display at the front of your store the week leading up to October 15. This can be done inexpensively, but packaged creatively. Customers will love the convenience.

2. Set up a table at the front of the store with signage and associated products that you sell in celebration of : Apple Month, Popcorn Month, Book Month, Chocolate Cupcake Day, Candy Corn Day or any of the other occasions listed above.

3. Offer something special if you can – like a discount on any chili-related item in your restaurant or store in honor of National Chili Month. Or Buy One Flashlight, Get One Free promotion for staying safe during Halloween.

4. Do a “Discover the Discount” in honor of Columbus Day. When customers bring their items to the register ask them to pick a card out of the discount bowl. Then they can discover their savings. Make sure you post a sign at the front of your store promoting this discount. Add a picture of Christopher Columbus for a nice touch.
5. If you are a woman with a small business, tweet about how you started your business. Ask others to share their stories. Get a dialogue going. Also, in your tweet tell customers if they come in and mention seeing the tweet they receive an extra 10% off their purchase.
6. Whatever special occasions you choose to highlight, and whatever associated discounts, be sure to announce them on your Facebook page.

7. And to your e-mail subscriber list.

If you don’t sell any of these or related products, you can build and nurture your community by doing things like:

1. Get a popcorn machine and keep it poppin all month.

2. In honor of National Book month, sponsor a children’s book drive in your store and donate the books to a local Ronald McDonald house.

3. On National Chocolate Cupcake Day, put out a plate of cupcakes and tell your customers it’s because they are so sweet.

4. Sponsor a Halloween costume contest for kids or pets. Take pictures to post in your store or on your businesses’ website. Award a gift card to your store to the person or pet with the most creative costume.

5. If you have a really fast promotional products provider, order glow-in-the-dark Halloween treat bags and safety tip bookmarks printed with your logo. Pass these out to customers.

6. For Haunted Refrigerator Night – Get a dorm-size refrigerator and display it in your store. Fill it with plastic spiders (you may need to put the spiders in baskets or jars to contain them when the door is opened). Ask customers to guess how many spiders are haunting the refrigerator. The winner gets the mini fridge. This idea is quirky enough to bring curiosity seekers in by posting a sign saying “Visit our haunted refrigerator and you may win it!”

7. Serve caramel apples on October 31 in honor of National Apple Month, Halloween and National Caramel Apple Day.

If you sell advertising…be sure to contact your clients with ideas on how to celebrate these October occasions. They may not accept all your ideas but they will appreciate your creativity and commitment to bringing them results. You’ll be delivering added value and setting yourself apart from the competition.

There you have it! A month of Cool marketing opportunities! Make it fun and see some serious results.

If you put any of these ideas to work this month, share your story and photos with Business Class Inc. We’ll post them for everyone to see just how your business boosted morale, productivity and maybe even the bottom line!

Note: These are fun things to celebrate with your staff as well.

Link to other months of the year

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