Make thoughtful use of relevant holidays.

Well, I don’t know about you, but I sure have gotten a lot of email today wishing me Happy Valentine’s Day. The email has ranged from personal good wishes (which I love) to tons of marketing geared to letting me know how much I’m loved and valued by various people. Now, I have no problem with being loved and valued (good to know, right?)- except- and this is a big thing- when everyone who is "loving and valuing me" is sending me the EXACT SAME EMAIL as everyone else. How loved and valued do I feel now? Not very- and this is an important aspect of your marketing to pay attention to. If you are going to jump on the holiday promotion bandwagon (and there are valuable, valid reasons for doing so)- just make sure you’re doing this with integrity. When you tell someone they are valuable to you and you care for them- really mean it. Avoid using words like, "I love and value you" (which sounds personal) when there is a chance that others will be promoting the same product and using the same stock pitch (which isn’t personal). You can lose a lot of credibility by personally acknowledging people and having that "taken away" when it’s revealed that your ‘personal acknowledgement’ is really just a form letter designed to sell. If you are going to use holidays to market your business, do it with thoughtfulness and integrity and meaning. Since I’m not actively selling anything in this blog, and because I do value you, I sincerely wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day. May you always know how much you are loved and valued by everyone in your life. (and no, that’s not a stock email pitch!)