actionable marketing guide

Dear ,

I hope that the mothers among you enjoyed Mother’s Day.

While the Greeks and Romans had festivals honoring their mother goddesses, Rhea and Cybele, by contrast, in the US, Mother’s Day celebrations began prior to the Civil War. Ann Reeves Jarvis created “Mothers’ Day Work Clubs” in West Virginia to educate women how to properly care for children.

After the Civil War, Julia Ward Howe, an abolitionist and suffragette, wrote the “Mother’s Day Proclamation” in 1870. Her goal was to unite mothers to promote world peace, a goal that remains relevant today.

After her mother’s death in 1905, Anna Jarvis envisioned Mother’s Day as a way of honoring the sacrifices that mothers made for their children.

With John Wanamaker’s financial support, Jarvis organized the first official Mother’s Day at a West Virginia church in May 1908. That same day, thousands attended a Mother’s Day event at one of Wanamaker’s Philadelphia-based department stores thus beginning a retail promotional tie-in.

Even if your mother is no longer part of your life (regardless of reason) or you’re not a mother, you can still celebrate the day with other women in your chosen family. These are the people with whom you proactively decide to spend your time. (BTW, here’s how to use holidays to achieve personal goals.)

My husband and I consider our closest friends to be our “chosen” family because we love them like family and cherish how they support us as a positive force in our lives. They accept us as we are. There’s no pre-existing familial baggage or lingering hurts that have simmered for years. 

Getting out and being with people who support you is empowering and energizing.

Don’t get me wrong—I respect my parents and appreciate how they helped me to become the person I am today. That said, it wasn’t a well-paved route. Life never is.

Beyond taking the time to reach out to your mother and the women in your life who are like mothers, here’s how you can apply Mother’s Day to your business and audience regardless of who they are.

Happy marketing,
Heidi

Heidi Cohen
Actionable Marketing Guide

P.S. If you have any special questions that you’d like me to answer in a future newsletter, please hit reply and send them along.

5 Small Business Branding Guidelines = Big Opportunity

Many small businesses believe branding is only for BIG companies with BIG budgets.

They’re missing a huge opportunity. Small business branding is a super power; it enables your firm to appear more strategic and larger than it is.

In the rush to open for business don’t skip branding. Instead, take the necessary time to develop your brand and it will reap benefits for your firm in the long run. 

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