New year, new you! It’s time for making New Year’s resolutions, so why not put a solution in front of your blog and social media audiences? Can the resolutions they may consider making be helped along by what your business has to offer? How can your products and/or services improve lives, operations, or other circumstances, or otherwise solve problems for your audience?
January is chock full of interesting days and observances to write about, including a few about our favorite foods. Do some research to discover more about these observances and their origins. Consider a contest, giveaway, or challenge based on one or more of these special days to create interest or promote your products or services.
 

Holidays and Special Days

January 1, 2018                 New Year’s Day #HappyNewYear #2018
January 4, 2018                National Spaghetti Day #NationalSpaghettiDay
January 8, 2018                Clean Off Your Desk Day #CleanOffYourDeskDay
January 11, 2018               National Milk Day #NationalMilkDay
January 15, 2018               Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (US) #MLKDay
January 16, 2018               International Spicy Food Day #SpicyFoodDay
January 19, 2018               National Popcorn Day #NationalPopcornDay
January 21, 2018               National Hug Day #NationalHugDay
January 24, 2018              National Compliment Day #NationalComplimentDay
January 26, 2018              National Fun at Work Day #HaveFunAtWorkDay
 

Birthdays

• January 3, 1981 – Eli Manning, American Football Quarterback
• January 3, 1892 – J.R.R. Tolkien, Author
• January 4, 1643 – Isaac Newton, Physicist, Astronomer, Mathematician
• January 6, 1982 – Eddie Redmayne, Actor
• January 7, 1964 – Nicolas Cage, Actor, Producer
• January 8, 1935 – Elvis Presley, Rock Music Legend
• January 8, 1941 – Nick Nolte, Actor
• January 8, 1942 – Stephen Hawking, Physicist, Cosmologist
• January 9, 1913 – Richard M. Nixon, 37th President of the United States
• January 11, 1755 – Alexander Hamilton
• January 13, 1977 – Orlando Bloom, Actor
• January 17, 1706 – Benjamin Franklin
• January 17, 1899 – Al Capone, Gangster
• January 17, 1942 – Muhammed Ali, Boxer
• January 19, 1809 – Edgar Allen Poe, Author
• January 19, 1946 – Dolly Parton, Singer, Actress
• January 24, 1943 – Sharon Tate, Model, Actress
• January 26, 1961 – Wayne Gretzky, Hockey Player
• January 27, 1756 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
• January 28, 1993 – Will Poulter, Actor
• January 28, 1998 – Ariel Winter, Actress
• January 29, 1954 – Oprah Winfrey

Additional Topics

January 18 is Winnie the Pooh Day

Here’s a special day for the authors among us. Winnie the Pooh Day is an opportunity to enjoy your favorite bear and all of his friends. This day was created to celebrate the birth of author A.A .Milne in 1882. He was an author of children’s story books, and created Winnie the Pooh and his friends. Have some fun today by reading some storybooks about the adventures of Winnie and his friends with young children. Did you know? In his works, he was known as A.A. Milne. The initials stand for Allan Alexander.
 

January 23 is National Handwriting Day

Here’s another day for writers and authors. I know in this age of computers, very few of us take pencil or pen in hand. National Handwriting Day is an opportunity to reintroduce yourself to a pen or pencil and a piece of paper. National Handwriting Day was established by the Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association in 1977. January 23rd was chosen because this is the birthday of John Hancock. John Hancock was the first person to sign the Declaration of Independence, and his handwriting is perhaps the most notable on the page.
 

January is National Book Month

In addition to this, the third full week in January is National Book Week. Typical weather in January isn’t favorable for most outdoor pursuits. Stay indoors and celebrate national book month revisiting some classic books or even some of your old favorites. Here’s a list to get you started:

• To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
• The Greatest Generation, by Tom Brokaw
• Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
• A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens
• Catch-22, by Joseph Heller
• The Harry Potter books, by J.K. Rowling

What special days or observances warm your heart in January? Are there holiday events or happenings that will attract customers or impact your business? Share them in the comments and of course, share them with your readers! Until next month, stay warm, read some great books, and as always, keep writing!