Happy Thanksgiving: But where did it all begin?

Sure, you’ve heard about the Pilgrims and the Indians and the first Thanksgiving, but that was just a dinner. Do you know how Thanksgiving, now officially celebrated on the 4th Thursday of every November, earned its place as one of the major US holidays?

11 December, 1620: 102 pilgrims disembarked the Mayflower at Plymouth rock after a rough and tempestuous sea journey of more than two months (66 days). Originally aiming for northern Virginia, they were blown off course by winds. That first winter, about 45 pilgrims died due to extreme cold. In the spring of 1621, led by Squanto, native Americans taught the pilgrims to grow corn, beans and pumpkins, which helped all of them survive. In the autumn of 1621, they invited their Indian friends and held a grand celebration to thank God for his favors. This communal dinner is popularly known as “The First Thanksgiving.” There is no evidence to prove if the customary turkey was a part of the initial feast. According to the firsthand account written by the leader of the colony, the food included, ducks, geese, venison, fish, berries etc.

During the 1600 and 1700’s, it was common practice for individual colonies to observe days of thanksgiving throughout each year. These were days set aside for prayer and fasting, not a day marked by plentiful food and drink as is today's custom. Later in the 18th century each of the states periodically would designate a day of thanksgiving in honor of a military victory, an adoption of a state constitution or an exceptionally bountiful crop.

October 1777: All thirteen colonies joined in a communal thanks-giving celebration commemorating the surrender of British General Burgoyne at Saratoga.

3 October 1789: The first historic proclamation was issued by President George Washington, declaring November 26 as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer give gratitude to God. Here is the proclamation:

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being Who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have show kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3rd day of October, A.D. 1789.
(signed) G. Washington

3 October, 1863: President Abraham Lincoln issued a fresh proclamation calling for the observance of the fourth Tuesday of November as a national holiday.  In 1939, during the great depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday to the third Thursday of November to extend the Christmas shopping season and boost the economy.  After a storm of protest, in 1941 Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving to the fourth Thursday in November, where it stands today.

It's interesting to note that most of the triggers behind our Thanksgiving Day history involve not times of great plenty and blessing, but times of great want and trials.  Perhaps as human beings we take the good times for granted; because it seems to be the bad times that bring our true gratitude to the surface. We may need to have tough stuff in our lives in order to truly appreciate all of the people and circumstances for which we should truly be thankful to God and others.  

Jacques Maritain said, "Gratitude is the most exquisite form of courtesy," and 'thanksgiving' itself is a word of action.  To make the most of this Thanksgiving, as you celebrate with family and friends, as you brave the shopping hordes, as you eat to overflow and watch football, as you travel to see your favorite people, or as you simply rest and renew, be thankful and find ways to turn your gratitude into actions that benefit others.

Elizabeth Kraus
Be InPulse branding, marketing and design

quoteable

“If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.”

(Jim Rohn)

Free publicity for military and military spouse-owned businesses!

Are any of you active military or spouses of military members?

There's a site that would love to help promote your services, products, brick-and-mortar, home-based business or cottage industry -- free of charge.

Niche USA is dedicated to promoting military and military spouse-owned businesses and entrepreneurs!


Check out Niche USA and tell your friends!

Stores and restaurants honoring and thanking our servicemen and women today

Today of all days we're proud to add our voices to those thanking our Veterans and active duty service men and women.

Click [ here ] for a list of the stores and restaurants honoring Veterans this year. A perk you have earned with your dedicated service to our Nation and our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines!






Elizabeth Kraus | Co-Owner, Niche USA - mynicheusa.com
Promoting military spouse owned businesses and entrepreneurs

The happiest place on earth

For years, Disney has claimed to be the happiest place on earth.  That may be true, but it's not the happiest place to work.  According to a new survey, all four branches of the US Military ranked higher than Disney and other well-known companies renowned for their employee culture like Microsoft, Amazon, Zappos, Starbucks and Johnson & Johnson.

According to the CareerBliss study [ click here ] the ten most blissful places to work are:

1. Google
2. 3M
3. ABN AMRO
4. DTE Energy
5. Air Force
6. Qualcomm
7. Army National Guard
8. Marines
9. Navy
10. LSI Logic

The article goes on to say that the reasons military members are happier include factors like "...having a meaningful impact on the world, having true camaraderie with your co-workers and having the opportunities to develop skills..."

Read the article in its entirety at businessnewsdaily.com.

Elizabeth Kraus | 12monthsofmarketing.net
Author, 365 Days of Marketing

Introducing USMC Spouse, Mandy Bartok and Travels with Neko

This is an especially enjoyable writing assignment for me, as it's the first of what I hope will be many, many more introductions I get to make on behalf of military spouse entrepreneurs and business owners.

The first profile submitted to Niche USA at www.mynicheusa.com is now live!

[ CLICK HERE ] to meet Mandy Bartok
USMC military spouse and the owner of Travels with Neko.


Travels with Neko is an innovative, online curriculum designed to bring geography education into American classrooms. The program exposes students in grades K-6 to the customs and cultures of countries around the globe as students follow the adventures of Neko, the traveling cat. All lessons include pictures, video, maps, discussion questions, additional activities, reading lists and recipes for each destination visited.
But don't just take my word for it: 

"When I grow up, I want to travel the world like Neko!" Kindergarten Student, Global Getaway, Spring 2011

This program would be a great addition to any elementary or homeschool classroom.
For more information, visit www.travelswithneko.com.

Two more profiles have been created and are awaiting user-approval - we want yours, too! If you know military spouse entrepreneurs and business owners who might be interested in some free publicity, please let them know about Niche USA, where our mission is to promote military spouse-owned businesses and entrepreneurs.  

We also welcome your guest blog posts! To be considered, email us with the subject line "Guest bloggers." Include your full name, business name, a reason why your post would be relevant to our audience and the article itself. Your article can be in the e-mail itself, or attached as an MS Word document.

Elizabeth Kraus | Niche USA | mynicheusa.com

Sunday Fun Day: Don't Touch My Coffee!

It seems to me that people used to "like" and comment on posts much more frequently than they do now. Why? Overload. We're all consuming so much on social media that it takes something truly - TRULY - evocative to motivate us to respond.

But there are still a few topics sure to garner social media interaction, including that beloved and sacred day-starter: coffee. However you spell it—coffee, Americana, latte, mocha or cappuccino—you're likely to get attention and (hopefully!) some interaction with your audience.

On that note, the infographic below from the good people at homeownersinsurance.org contains 15 stats about caffeine that you can use as social media conversation starters:


[Source: Homeowners Insurance]


***

Do you want more creative ways to generate social media engagement -- for every day of the year? Check out 365 Days of Marketing, available on amazon.com or save $5 off the list price when you use the Code USH9VPJG and purchase on my site at 12monthsofmarketing.net.

Did you know? A brief history of the business card...

We think of business cards as essential to doing business in the modern world (and they are). But you may not know that business cards have been around for hundreds of years, and they’ve always been important. Originally used by the most prosperous and aristocratic in society, business cards were used to announce that they would be coming to town soon, were exchanged during introductions and were left at the homes of peers and friends to note that one had stopped by.  More history?  [check out this post on designer-daily.com ] or check out some of the cool designs sported over at [ creativebits.org ].

It’s amazing, if you think about it, that we still use business cards in what is – essentially – the same way. We use them to introduce ourselves, we send them with collateral, we leave them at other businesses, we hand them out at events and parties.

Business cards might actually be the most often-used tool in your marketing arsenal; yet it’s often given little attention in terms of design. Worse, many times people hand out business cards that contain obsolete or outdated information, crossing out and writing in new data. This sends all kinds of negative messages; that you're careless, that you don't care how you present yourself, that you're not proud of your business, that you're not successful enough to be able to afford to replenish them (and who wants to work with someone who is unsuccessful at what they do?)

Since it’s the job of your business card to introduce you to others and remind people of your existence, your business cards need to be memorable, need to reflect your brand and the personality of your business, must look professional and be kept up to date. 

For more, including 6 ways to put your business card to work building your business, read the rest on my marketing blog [ click here ].

Elizabeth Kraus, Niche USA
Author of 365 Days of Marketing

What to do when you have to be your own media marketing machine

Earlier today, Chris Brogan, co-author of The New York Times bestselling book Trust Agents and author of Social Media 101 posted this on [ entrepreneur.com: ] "...there are inexpensive ways to market your stuff, as long as you accept one fact: You're also a media company."

In the article, he advocates for the use of Social Media, blogging and Email, advice with which I heartily concur (and I'm assuming that you already know you MUST have a website to make all of this "go" and to get found by your target markets).

From a monetary standpoint, they cost next to nothing. They connect you with people immediately, 24 hours a day. He's right: If you are on a shoestring budget you can still promote your business and expertise; but it is going to cost you in one area, and that is time. Here are some recommendations to help you build an integrated web, email, blog and social media marketing program:

1. A Website.
   Not a blog, not a Facebook page and not a citysearch or other directory listing. You need NEED your own website with your own domain name. Why?
   
   Your customers aren't looking for you in the yellow pages, they are looking for you online. You'll be Google'ed, Yahoo'ed, Bing'ed and otherwise searched for online by your prospects, no matter whether your business is brick-and-mortar and locally based or virtual. If your competitors are online and you aren't, guess who gets 'found?'
   
   And in case you need more reasons: having a website gives you the opportunity to build your brand, before a prospective client ever walks in the door or places an order. You need a professional-looking site (which might mean different things in different industries) that (1) is visually appealing and stimulating to visitors (i.e, engages them and makes them want to know more), (2) has a clear call to action which enables and motivates site visitors to take the next step and (3) helps to educate your customers (making you the expert in your field).
2. Email marketing.
   Back to Chris Brogan's recommendations, noting that email marketing is not about throwing a newsletter "full of promotions" at your readers. Your email is in and amongst the letters, notes and education that they value. You might be sandwiched in between an invite to a friends party and a note from mom. Good email marketing gets you into the inbox and keeps your emails getting opened. Think about each one from the customer's point of view:
   
   • Connect with them emotionally so that they feel like your business is an important part of their life.
   • Find ways to communicate your feelings about how important they are to your business (and you).
   • Build trust and motivate them to want to move to deeper levels of engagement with your business.
   • Become a valuable resource of useful information about your industry, your local community or another area of importance to your customers.
     
3. Social Media.
   Specifically those platforms identified as most important in statistics everywhere including the 2011 Social Media Examiner's [ report ] which listed Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Blogging as the four most widely-used and effective social media marketing tools.
   
   • Facebook. Probably the most important social media tool for which you need a strategy and a plan. Why? One in every eight minutes spent online is spent on Facebook. And one out of 11 people on the planet have a Facebook account. You need to be there, because your prospects and customers are there. Furthermore, there is a lot of data to support the assertion that consumers identify and interact with their favorite brands on Facebook for status and self-image as well as business reasons.
   • Twitter. At a minimum, use Twitter to push out information that will pull followers back in to your website, Facebook page, blog and e-mail newsletter. In tomorrow's newsletter, you'll find a link to 17 ways to use Twitter to build business to build on.
   • LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a great place to connect with peers, vendors, manufacturers and other industry experts. Don't just use it to push your business, use it to connect with other people who share your interests and can provide you with useful and practical advice to help further your business. Seek out introductions and connections, join groups and become active in discussions.
     
4. Blog.
   To me, blogging is great. I get to talk about things that I'm passionate about. I get to share my point of view. I get to be emotional if I want to. You can do a lot of things with a blog that you can't do with any other electronic platform. Use your blog to:
   
   • Build your reputation as an expert
   • Connect emotionally with your readers
   • Be a real 'person' behind your business entity
   • Provide your readers with entertaining, engaging and thought-provoking information

You'll be sending negative messages if you neglect any of these forms of communication and marketing, especially after you've established expectations in the minds of prospects and customers that you are present and ready to help them. When you neglect your marketing, or fail to communicate often enough to maintain your visibility you may give the impression that you're unprofessional and unreliable.

So if you are just starting out, add these elements in one or two at a time and make sure that you create a manageable schedule, such as this:

• First Day of the Month: Send email newsletter. Cross-post to Twitter, Facebook and Blog
• 20th of the Month: Send email newsletter highlighting any 'last chance' opportunities (things that will expire at the end of the month)
• Monday, Tuesday and Thursday (Weekly): Post a little something on your Facebook page (once every day would be better, but things happen!) and cross-post to Twitter with links back to your Website, Facebook page and/or Blog.
• Wednesdays (Weekly): Blog, and cross post to Twitter and Facebook (and your website, if you are maintaining a blogroll there). 
  Even if you're not a writer, you can do this!  Blog posts can be brief.  Post 3-4 paragraphs about something that interests you and would be likely to interest and engage your target market on your blog.  This should relate to your business, be written personally and conversationally, should be something you wouldn't be embarrassed to have your grandmother or high school English teacher read and should not generally be a forum for hard selling.  Even so, you use your blog design and blog posts to stimulate readers to take the next step in engagement with your business.  

Build a bigger role for your business in the lives of your clients!

Elizabeth Kraus

***

For more, [ subscribe to email newsletters ].

Need content? The 2012 Small Business Marketing Calendar: Little White Marketing Lies already has the schedule laid out for you for every month of the year, plus not only the how-to but also the content you need to carry out a strategic, effective electronic marketing plan.

Elizabeth Kraus is the owner of Be InPulse branding marketing - 12monthsofmarketing.com - and the author of 2012 Marketing Calendars, 365 Days of Marketing and Make Over Your Marketing (12 Months of Marketing for Salon and Spa).

What IS a 'niche,' anyway? (Part II)

Niche USA is so-named because (whether you pronounce it 'neesh' or 'nitch') the
inference is the same.

Niche USA is dedicated to promoting, supporting, serving a niche group of professionals: military spouse business owners, entrepreneurs, craftspeople and service providers. And Niche USA is the place where these entrepreneurs can showcase what they're passionate about — where they have found their own 'niche,' so to speak.

But this morning I realized that it's something more: the meaning of niche as applied to everyday life is space used to showcase something special. Maybe more than anything else, that's what Niche USA is: a place to showcase something very, very special!

First Lady Michelle Obama and Vice President's wife Jill Biden said in USA Today as part of a study and commitment to strengthening military families:

“We can do this. In every community, every day, we can find concrete ways to show our military families the respect and gratitude that each of us holds for them in our hearts.

They deserve our support long after the welcome home ceremonies are over.

You don’t have to come from a military family, have a base in your community, or be an expert in military issues to make a difference.

Every American can do something.”
—Michelle Obama and Jill Biden USA Today, September 3, 2010

Not to be cliche, but we can do this! I encourage you to get into the Niche USA directory from the beginning; obviously, those businesses listed first will get more exposure and have less competition when it comes to getting the attention of prospective customers.

Find your niche, with us!

[Click here] to subscribe to emails to stay apprised of this project (whether you are a military spouse business owner or not) or complete the interest form [here].

Elizabeth Kraus |
contact me for more information via email: elizabeth at mynicheusa.com

(this is me)

What IS a 'niche,' anyway?

My business partner Jennifer and I love the word ‘niche.’ Whether you pronounce it like the French (neesh) or like many in the US (nitch) the meaning as relates to business is the same:

Niche, (n.)

1 – a situation or activity specially suited to a person’s interests, abilities or nature; e.g., find your niche in life, or

2 – a demand for a certain category of products or services, such as the niche market we would like to facilitate by promoting military spouse business owners and entrepreneurs.

In both cases, ‘niche’ is the right word for our business. We believe that many in the US will want to support the spouses of our military in this way (frankly, we’re surprised this is not already being done). And as to the former, as a military spouse who is entrepreneurial, gifted, talented, educated or otherwise qualified and passionate about your business or home-based work, you have already found your niche, and now we’d like to connect you with customers in the US and around the world.

Our first order of business is to build a directory to feature your business, products or services. Whether you provide products or services in a local area (such as a cake maker, face painter, party planner or plumber), you have the ability to ship products throughout the US (or even further) or you provide virtual or electronic products or services – we want to put the spotlight on your business and the products and services you provide.

We invite you to fill out the interest form at www.mynicheusa.com and to subscribe to our weekly email newsletters both for site status updates and for resources, inspiration and encouragement to help fill you back up. We’re going to provide you with marketing tips and ideas to help you build your business and connect you with other experts in articles and webinars. Best of all, we’re going to connect you with customers.

So find your niche, with us!

Elizabeth Kraus is the author of 365 Days of Marketing and the 2012 Small Business Marketing Calendar. Get more marketing inspiration from her blog [ click here ].

Welcome to the Niche USA blog!

Welcome to the official blog site for www.mynicheusa.com, a site dedicated to promoting the welfare, quality of life and future success of military spouse-owned businesses and entrepreneurs—retirees welcome? Of course!

For more information about Niche USA or mynicheusa.com, visit our website [ here ].
To submit an interest form for your business or cottage industry [ click here ].

Many of our site resources are free for military spouse entrepreneurs and business owners, including a listing in our master directory and the majority of our marketing tip newsletters, webinars, templates and more.

We're working hard on the next phase of our site, which will be a portal whereby military spouse and retired-military entrepreneurs and business owners can sell their goods and services within their local area or world-wide. Subscribe to the e-mail newsletter [ click here ] and we'll keep you informed of the progress of this portal.

Email newsletter subscribers can expect:

• A weekly newsletter with mynicheusa.com site updates
• Links to free resources, marketing ideas and webinars
• Our own version of 'Hometown USA' trivia and news
• Fitness and health tips, recipes and other goodies
• Information about businesses who offer special pricing, discounts or who otherwise cater to military families
• Your email and contact information will never be shared with any other parties and you can opt-out at any time

[ Click here ] to subscribe [ download pdf ] for more information or to share with a friend, or visit www.mynicheusa.com for more information.