For Mother’s Day, I thought it would be fun to share a little bit of humor with the mothers along with some encouraging words. Although I normally write about business topics such as strategy, leadership, social media, or business ownership, I decided to give back to the mothers today.

Image: SXC.hu

Here are some encouraging words for the mothers:

• Tenneva Jordan: A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.
• Sophia Loren,Women and Beauty: When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts.  A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.
• Abraham Lincoln: I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.
  
• Mildred B Vermont: Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs… since the payment is pure love.
  
• Harriet Beecher Stowe: Most mothers are instinctive philosophers.

Now for a little bit of humor brought to you by A Woman’s World website.

Mothers will be celebrated across the country today, but if you really love mom, you’ll encourage her to take a good look at her finances. That, according to Eleanor Blayney, CFP, is the greatest gift you can give.

Mothers are involved in 95% of family financial decisions. The make up one of the largest occupations (motherhood!) in the United States and are the chief supplier of our nation’s productive capital. However, they earn no salaries, insurance, days off, retirement accounts, or Social Security benefits. And to top it off, women live longer than men, which means they’ve got to be especially intentional when it comes to financial planning.

Blayney points out several things mothers must do to make up for the fact that they live longer, have more intermittent workforce participation, and are more likely to spend a significant period of their lives single than their male counterparts.

• Women need to start saving for their retirement earlier and saving more. 
• They need to get adequate insurance:  most particularly disability and long-term care as these are the risks that are more prevalent for women. 
• Women need to take more investment risk than they are prone to do, in order to make their capital grow sufficiently for their longer lives.

Blayney also recommends adding an IRA or savings contribution to your the carnations and chocolates you give your mother this year.

Personally, I’m just excited about my last retirement account statement. I seem to be somewhat up from the vast *down* that has been the last many months.

Image Credit: sophiea, Flickr

With Earth Day in the recent past and Mother’s and Father’s Day approaching, we see an increase of holiday-oriented marketing. This type of marketing can be of value to customers, but only if you truly have a holiday tie-in. If you’re just trying to grab some of the holiday hype, your customers may decide that you’re following a trend rather than offering them a good deal.

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For instance, I heard several people scoffing at flyers printed by stores touting their Earth Day deals and environmental consciousness. The paper waste was not lost on those potential customers. Also not a good idea: “green” items that aren’t really green at all. Both were failures according to people who mentioned them.

A holiday tie-in can be great if it’s pitched correctly. For instance, offer me a discount on something I really want, and time it for Mother’s Day — I’m okay with that. Something fun, entertaining or cool. But it’s a fine line to walk. Trying to sell a mom an appliance that reminds her of housework is a bit harder. Some will love it. Some will be offended. And some won’t care either way.

How do you know what to market then? It goes back to knowing your customers. If the holiday is important or meaningful to them, you might have an in. But know that insincerity is easily noticed and that will do you more harm than good. I know that I dislike feeling like I’m being patronized. You probably do, too. Remember that when it comes to your customers. Are you offering them something good? Interesting? Of value to them? Be sincere in your offering to them.

If you plan to market around a holiday, make sure you not only know something about the holiday (especially lesser-known or obscure holidays), but what it means to those who celebrate or observe it. You don’t want to offer discounts on plastics or single-use items for Earth Day. Or brooms and dustpans on Mother’s Day.

What holiday tie-ins have you tried? What worked? And what didn’t?

Today, mother’s day has become a commercial venture, replete with over priced and unsustainable cut flowers, mountains of cards printed on non-recycled paper and questionable gifts. But it wasn’t started that way.

Mother’s Day creator Julia Ward Howe, who also wrote “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” wrote the following proclamation, in part as a response to the bloody Civil War in the United States:

Arise, then, women of this day! Arise all women who have hearts, whether
our baptism be that of water or of fears!

Say firmly: “We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant
agencies. Our husbands shall not come to us, reeking with carnage, for
caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.

We women of one country will be too tender of those of another country
to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs. From the bosom of the
devastated earth a voice goes up with our own.

It says “Disarm, Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice.”

Blood does not wipe our dishonor nor violence indicate possession. As
men have often forsaken the plow and the anvil at the summons of war,
let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest
day of counsel. Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate
the dead.

Let them then solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
whereby the great human family can live in peace, each bearing after
their own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar, but of God.

In the name of womanhood and of humanity, I earnestly ask that a general
congress of women without limit of nationality may be appointed and held
at some place deemed most convenient and at the earliest period
consistent with its objects, to promote the alliance of the different
nationalities, the amicable settlement of international questions, the
great and general interests of peace.

I’ll be joining CodePink for a silent vigil today in San Diego and I’m working on the practice of a daily minute of silence at noon for peace. You could join me in that where ever you are.

Write well and often,

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