Stop by Real Deals Home Decor for their summer Clearance on July 14th and save up to 70% OFF!

National Nude Day

Chances are you’ll be nude at some point every day, but July 14th is your official day to celebrate something nude.  Doesn’t have to be yourself, although we know most everyone’s thoughts went right into the gutter after reading the title.  How about we celebrate naked food?  There’s a lot to be said for simply prepared foods.  Or, if you’re modest and would prefer to celebrate making something non-nude, that would be good too!  Like decorating your walls.  If you have some bare walls in your home and are looking to take away their naked stigma, head on over to our sponsor today and save some money too!

Details:  Just walk into any of our sponsors today and say “It’s National Nude Day” to qualify for a special.  That’s it!  Nothing to print or show, just be in the know!  But hurry, because this deal is only good for one day!

Receive a plastic Geico Gecko FREE with a no obligation rate quote from your local Greenville Geico Office

Insurance Awareness Day

What an exciting topic, insurance!  Almost like watching the grass grow or the paint dry.  And yet, insurance can be a life saver in a lot of situations.  Think of it like a parachute, you wouldn’t go skydiving without one would you?  Yet millions of people are not properly insured and find out after they have an “incident”.  Which is why everyone should educate themselves about proper insurance protection, and today is the day to do so!

Details:  Just walk into any of our sponsors today and say “It’s Insurance Awareness Day” to qualify for a special.  That’s it!  Nothing to print or show, just be in the know!  But hurry, because this deal is only good for one day!

Buy one yard of fabric, get one FREE! at A Tripp In Time, limit 3 yards, June 13th only!

Can’t make it on the 13th? register to extend this discount for a week

National Sewing Machine Day

The French started using sewing machines in the 1830′s which revolutionized the way clothing was made.  Just imagine today if you had to hand sew all your clothes, or pay someone to hand sew your clothes for you?  Well, not many people hand sew clothing with a needle and thread anymore, but you can take A Tripp In Time down to Simpsonville.  Hand crafted clothing here is made with the help of our ever-loved sewing machine, some heirloom fabric, and whole lot of skill!   And don’t worry, heirloom fabric choices today doesn’t mean your creation has to look like something straight from Nellie Oleson’s closet.

Details:  Just walk into any of our sponsors today and say “It’s National Sewing Machine Day” to qualify for a special.  That’s it!  Nothing to print or show, just be in the know!  But hurry, because this deal is only good for one day!

FREE Iced Tea with purchase of same at O-CHA Tea Bar, June 10th only.

National Iced Tea Day

In Greenville it’s not known so much as iced tea, but as sweet tea!  The phrase has caused some pretty confused looks from some northerners on their first visit to the south.   But it doesn’t take very long to catch on to the sweet tea way of life…  relaxed summer afternoons hanging around in a shaded hammock pleasing your tastes bud with a sweet treat.   What could be better?

Details:  Just walk into any of our sponsors today and tell them today is National Iced Tea Day to qualify for these specials.  That’s it!  Nothing to print or show, just be in the know!  But hurry, because this deal is only good for one day!

FREE Chocolate Ice Cream with purchase of equal or greater value

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$0.50 OFF any chocolate ice cream

Chocolate Ice Cream Day

What doesn’t go better together than chocolate and ice cream?  Especially in June as the heat of summer is either quickly approaching, or arrived in full force.  Heck, who are we trying to kid, chocolate ice cream goes just as well with the dead of winter as the heat of summer, everyday should be Chocolate Ice Cream Day!

Details:  Just walk into any of our sponsors today and say “It’s Chocolate Ice Cream Day” to qualify for these specials.  That’s it!  No certificates to print, no electronic devices to show, just be in the know!  But hurry, because this deal is only good for today!

The national Town Planner conference was held last weekend and all the publishers voted for the best cover photography.  The winners are shown below, and unfortunately, the upstate SC editions didn’t place.

First place went to an Arizona edition and is a lovely picture of some winter action at the Grand Canyon.  Second place to a fall scene in Pennsylvania taken by a photographer who was published shortly after his death.  The publisher, Kathy Weaver, delivered an emotional acceptance and related that Terry Schantz had always wanted to be published but never had been.  Kathy was able to fulfill that lifelong dream for Terry.  Third place went to a Wisconsin edition and don’t tell anyone, but, it was my favorite.  (Rules state that I can’t vote for my own covers)  So come on Greenville area photographers!  Submit your photos for the 2012 editions so we can earn some national recognition! You can submit through the contact us page.

Another form of advertising your business is by sponsoring local events or seminars.   I usually find that people either get it or they don’t get it when it comes to sponsorships.  Sponsoring an event is a great way to get your name out into the public.  Even better if you pick an event that is associated with your business, or an event where your business can help the event’s attendees in some way.

Upstate Town Planner was a sponsor for a local event held today, Launch Greenville, put on by Jake and Bridgette Hayes with Enterprise Launch.  This event was a one day seminar with all kinds of great information for small and start up local businesses.    Town Planner is a great product to get the word out about small and local businesses, so sponsoring the event was a natural fit.  As far as calculating the cosportunity for this sponsorship, well, that’s a little more difficult.  There were attendees who were exposed to my logo today, plus all the online promotion that has been done and will continue to be done.  The number of opportunities will continue to increase over time.

How do I know there will be results from this sponsorship?  Because there have already been results.  Most people I talked to today commented “oh, you’re a sponsor” when I introduced myself, and that’s what it’s about.   Name recognition, brand recognition, any kind of recognition, I’ll take it.

There are corny and wacky holidays almost every day of the year.  A lot of them lend themselves easily to promotional opportunities for small and big business, especially those using social media to get the word our fast and economically.  Below are some ideas for the month of April, 2010:

April 7th is No Housework Day – Need anymore be said.  Create all kinds of promos geared toward the people that normally perform all the housework.  Create a contest in which one of your customer’s will win a month of free maid service from a local company like Greenville Maids.   Or just invite everyone to your local restaurant or bar to avoid the housework waiting at home.

April 10th is Golfer’s Day – Use this day to drive traffic to your golf course, golf store, or driving range.

April 11th is Eight Track Tape Day – Does anyone even remember eight track tapes?  Does anyone have any old eight track tapes sitting around?  Invite people to your store and provide a giveaway to anyone who brings in an eight track tape.

April 13th is Scrabble Day – Sponsor a local scrabble contest, or pick out 10 letters and let your customers spell out the biggest word they can come up with, of course, provide a prize to the winner.

April 15th is Titanic Remembrance Day – Take the focus off of the fact that it’s tax day.  Hopefully your taxes have already been completed by your local accountant like Mike McCourry.

Did you know that you can access hundreds of databases for free in the Greenville area?  Big companies with big budgets can afford to buy their own access to the big name databases, but what’s the small business owner supposed to do when the need to research arises?  Beg?  Borrow?

Go to the local library.  First, the local librarians are super nice and always willing to help you find what you need.  But you only have to go the library once, and that’s only to get your library card.  After you have your card you can access all kinds of information from the comfort of your home computer!  That’s right, you don’t have to go the library and stay there and flip through pages.  Just log onto the library’s site, www.greenvillelibrary.org, navigate to the research tab, pick your database, type in your library card number and your pin, and you’re all set to research.

Just an FYI, the Greenville County Library provides access to 85 databases!  Yes, 85, take a look for yourself and find whatever you need.  Included in the 85 is access to D&B, ReferenceUSA, and The Small Business Resource Center.  Access through the library may not let you run big reports on some of the databases, but small business owners are well adept to figuring out how the use the tools available effectively.   Not including your time invested into the research, this equates to a cosportunity of zero.

There are corny and wacky holidays almost every day of the year.  A lot of them lend themselves easily to promotional opportunities for small and big business, especially those using social media to get the word our fast and economically.  Below are some ideas for the month of April, 2010:

April is National Humor Month – promote humor by offering a discount when your customers tell you a joke good enough to make you laugh.  Or put on a comedy night at your restaurant, bar, or event space.

Own a music store?  April is International Guitar month.  Free lessons with purchase?  Free strings for life?  Tickets to a musical performance with purchase?

April is Keep America Beautiful Month.  Sponsor a neighborhood cleanup with some other local organizations.  Buy some garbage bags printed with your company’s name and logo to use on cleanup day.

April is Stress Awareness Month – seems like there’s something every month that lends itself well to the health and wellness industry.  Reduce your stress with a massage,  gym membership, free yoga lesson, etc.

National Welding Month is also celebrated in April.  Partner with the local vocational schools to sponsor a welding contest.  Provide a prize to the winner of the most creative welding art project.

April is also Car Care Month – Promote your businesses services around car care.  Offer coupons in April for discounted services or for free services that often get overlooked, like tire rotation.  It’s also a great time to provide free educational tips about car care.