Major holidays and celebrations usually mean a day off from work. We often spend the time having fun with family and friends, relaxing at home or hitting the road to enjoy nature.
Did you know that there is a day of celebration every day of the year?
Until the early 80’s in the USA only the President and Congress had the right to declare a day a holiday. But it was decided that Congress was spending too much time in approving and denying holidays, so the practice was abandoned. Now anyone can declare and publicize a holiday, recognition or awareness day. You are free to publicize and celebrate it.
Create your own day
How about creating your own celebration day. There is even an official day set aside for you to do just that. Chase’s Calendar of Events has listed March 26th as Make Up Your Own Holiday day.
Chase’s Calendar of Events is the authoritative guide to special occurrences, holidays, anniversaries, celebrity birthdates, religious observances, sporting events, and more from around the world. It was created in 1957 by two brothers, William D. Chase and Harrison V. Chase, to provide a comprehensive reference to calendar dates and observances. If you want your celebration listed in their directory, submit the required information. Get the details here
Another respected listing of celebration days is Celebrate by John Kremer at Celebrate Today
You don’t have to get permission or wait to be listed in either of these directories before creating your day.
Promote your day
Creating your day is just the start, however. You must get others involved, promote your day, and create buzz. You can garner publicity by creatively and assertively tie-ing the day into your book, business or service like these companies did:
- When Jacqueline Whitmore, speaker, created National Cell Phone Courtesy Month she got recognition in USA Today when she sent out a press release.
- In 2007 Tropical Smoothie Cafe started National Flip Flop Day and thanked the first 500 customers wearing flip flops with a free smoothie. Part of the proceeds go to help Camp Sunshine, a camp for kids with life-threatening illnesses.
These are just a few of the ideas that Joan Stewart, the Publicity Hound, shares in her Special Report, #45, How to Generate National Publicity from Your Own Holiday (or Day, Week, or Month of the Year (I’m an affiliate, so if you buy this report I’ll make enough to buy a grande latte) It is loaded with pages and pages of creative ways to market your business.
Go ahead and get busy creating your own observance. But be sure to tell us in the comments what you created.
This is terrific, Flora. I can feel a national day recognizing kids who ‘grew up country’ coming in the near future.
This sounds great Carol. Go for it!