Internet Marketing NYC, Home Runs, BBQs and Motorcylces; What your business can learn from Memorial Day Weekend with family & friends

Posted by Salem Global on Jun 1, 2010

There seems to be a split in the good ole US of A between people who “celebrate” Memorial Day vs. the people who actually “memorialize.” My Father served in the US Army and even was in the Korean War. (Ask me sometime what he did privately and I will be happy to share it with you. It’s a good story.) He never once mentioned to me (during the 40 years that I have known him), anything about his fallen comrades. He never really opened up to me how dangerous it was or that some guy or guys he knew in basic training or any of his friends have ever died or even suffered any casualties. On the other hand, my great uncle was actually a POW in WWII. He had been in the air force and his B17 bomber I guess went down in enemy territory. If he were alive today he would talk about his experiences in the war. 20 years ago a movie came out called “Memphis Belle” that touched upon his story. He would tell everyone to watch that movie. I don’t remember if I did or not but now that I am writing about it, maybe I will… (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS3AQepBW-g)

I would be lying to you if I didn’t admit to personally being in the camp that leans towards celebrating. Sure, I think about Memorial Day intellectually. I think about all of the wars that the US has been involved in and the fallen soldiers who went down in them. Movies, books and media bring war, its horror and glory to the masses. TV shows like MASH give us insight into the Korean War. Movies like Born On the 4th of July with Tom Cruise and Forest Gump with Tom Hanks, Saving Private Ryan with Matt Damon (and a hundred other A-list actors); The Dirty Dozen with Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine and Charles Bronson give us insight into Vietnam and World War Two. So when you actually stop and think about it, there are plenty of people to thank during Memorial Day weekend. What did you do? Did you put a flag out in front of your house? Did you put a printout on the front door of your apartment? Did you put a candle in the window? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFP5afPweVI)

I played two games of softball (hooray for me, I got my first home run of the season… we still got blown out of the water 25-3 or something like that), had a BBQ at my sisters house, played poker with some friends and did some running. I am also looking for a new car and as you all well know, every auto dealership has a Memorial Day sale. Every supermarket has hot dogs and hamburgers on sale because it’s Memorial Day which also marks the beginning of summer. So while most people are going to the beach or having barbecues, I would say that we are not at parades celebrating our freedom here in America or honoring the fallen as much as we are at the Thanksgiving Day Parade watching float after commercial float. Kudos to my friend that actually went with her family down to Washington DC and visited the Vietnam Memorial amongst other sites. She also reported to me that she got to witness the Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Parade (here is the 2010 eyewitness report: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brX-UyrWQKU)

So we learn from this that Memorial Day actually has several meanings. Your business can benefit from the beginning of summer by attaching your name to the words “Memorial Day,” add in the year (2010) and make a special sales or “awareness” page on your website. You can say that your company “honors those who have served in the armed forces this weekend.” Whether it is sincere or not, Google and the search engines don’t really care. But regardless, if you put the correct keywords into your meta data, and also have a special graphic or text on your website, you will show up higher in the search engines when people are searching. And if you are indeed sincere, you might also be able to score a sale from patriotic Americans that want to buy from those who support the Red, White and Blue.

Want to know more? Call me at 212-993-5828, email raphis@salemglobal.com or check out www.SalemGlobal.com for more information. Let me know if you want to talk more about America, the weekend and how to promote your business through the Internet this summer. It’s gonna be a hot one!