Calendar: February 2016

This article originally appeared in the January 2016 edition of INVISION.

While we’ll never topple the flower, chocolate and jewelry people on VALENTINE’S DAY, that’s no reason to cede the field completely. From Feb. 1 on, promote or discount obvious items like red or pink frames, or eyewear that has some sort of connection to the holiday (such as Valentino) or romance (Alexander Daas’s “Love” sunglasses, for example). Offer a simple returns policy, too, to help make shopping less stressful.

February is LOW VISION AWARENESS MONTH, so fire up all of your communications platforms to emphasize the importance of annual eye health and visual performance checks to prevent low vision problems. You can also discuss available treatments or assistance options for people dealing with low vision syndrome. You’ll find useful resources at allaboutvision.com/lowvision.

The calendar has cycled back to GROUNDHOG DAY. And if your business feels like it’s having the same day over and over and over, it’s time to act. Make a change, any change. Schedule a trunk show, bring in a sales or customer-service coach, join a local Toastmasters or Lions Club chapter — just take some action you’ve hesitated to take in the past.

Make sure you’re ready for some football on February 7.

Are you promoting frames in the colors of this year’s SUPER BOWL teams? If not, you’re missing out on a solid sales opportunity — or perhaps even a golden one, since this will mark the 50th edition of the big game. Identify three frames in each team’s color from your inventory and send a bulletin that says, for example: “Who you got? Carolina or New England? Cheer your team during the big game with colorful styles that can’t help but score!”

Today is the beginning of the CHINESE NEW YEAR and time to celebrate the Year of the Monkey. Consider putting a gift voucher in a Chinese-style red envelope and urge your customers to join in the celebrations. Offer special discounts to the fun-loving, sometimes mischievous people born under this sign.

Our brains are designed to handle one focus at a time. Unfortunately, they multitask poorly. It is this truth that lies behind SINGLE TASKING DAY. “When you shine your full attention on a conversation, a meeting, a project, you access the full spectrum of your brain’s resources,” says Margaret Moore, who co-authored Organize Your Mind, Organize Your Life. Moore suggests “consciously and completely” shifting your attention from one task to the next and focusing on the task at hand. Try it today. You might find you actually get things done.

SECO 2016 starts today in Atlanta. With close to 250 sessions for optometrists and optometric staff, it’s one of the country’s most important continuing education events. If you haven’t been, give it a try. (See our entry on Groundhog Day for inspiration.)

Today is LEAP YEAR DAY. It comes around only once every four years, so maybe it’s time for a trunk show featuring four very special frame lines.

B U S I N E S S    A N N I V E R S A R I E S

HAPPY 10TH ANNIVERSARY TO McCULLEY OPTIX GALLERY

FARGO, ND

Dr. Melissa McCulley opened her hometown practice a decade ago, and she and her staff will be celebrating all year, donating $1,000 a month for 10 months to area charities nominated by patients. Once the charity is decided, the nominating patient or patientswill be invited to help award the money. Other plans include a cocktail party, trunk shows throughout the year and special perks for top customers.

Does your business have an upcoming milestone? Email us at editor@invisionmag.com.

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C E L E B R I T Y    B I R T H D A Y

Ronald Reagan’s 105th

FEB. 6. This former U.S. president wore some of the earliest contact lenses. As Reagan later remembered: “After moving to Hollywood, I enthusiastically became a guinea pig for some of the first contact lenses available in this country. They were big, rigid, and fit over the whites of your eyes like a pair of football helmets and weren’t much fun to wear ….”