Are you ready for National Licorice Day tomorrow? It does seem odd to me that it falls during National Egg Salad week, and right in the middle of National Florida Tomato Month.  But I’ll take any excuse for a celebration — especially one that can be turned into a quick and easy Twitter and Facebook promotion.

We do sell some licorice, and although I don’t expect crowds of customers to respond (especially if most people share my feelings about licorice), we could do a fun posting in honor of this “holiday” that includes 10% off on all licorice tomorrow only.  The American Food and Drink Days calendar already includes a handy link to ‘The Magic of Licorice’ that I can use in my entry.

One of the keys of successful Facebook and Twitter use is to post frequently (within reason) and to make your entries entertaining.  If you find yourself short of ideas, there are endless “national day of” holidays that may inspire you — although many are so odd that you might have to think long and hard to find a connection (National Lima Bean Respect Day?).

Many holidays are food related, which may or may not apply to your store. But you could also do a fun promotion around a holiday such as Talk Like a Pirate Day, or next Monday’s National Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day. Offer a prize over the lunch hour for the most colorful p.j.s, for example.

There isn’t an official source for all the different national “holidays,” and some may be bogus.  If you look at this site, for example, there is a disclaimer that its list “purports to be a real list of national days" — but there are a few, such as National Public Sleeping Day, that sound a bit suspicious.

Another source of “holiday” is DailyHolidays.net, which requires a paid subscription of $49.95 a year to get the full benefits of their new, improved site. You can still see limited information for free on their old site, such as the fact that today’s holiday happens to be International “Louie Louie” Day. How will you be celebrating?

Happy Retailing,

Carol “Orange” Schroeder