Although many businesses focus their efforts on the big, year-end holiday season, there are a lot of other special days that are ripe with potential for savvy small business owners.

With a little creativity, you can be on your way to holiday marketing success in no time at all. Here are a few ideas to help get your creative juices flowing.

First Day of Spring

The month of March offers a great opportunity for small businesses to take advantage of customer enthusiasm for the arrival of spring. If your business provides products or services that depend on warm weather, the marketing potential of spring is a no-brainer. However, even if your business isn't tied to warm weather, you can use a spring-based marketing campaign to appeal to your customer's desire for a fresh start. Also, keep in mind that during March and April a lot of your customers will be receiving refund checks from the I.R.S. What better way to spend a refund than with your business?

Mothers Day/Fathers Day

Depending on what you sell, Mothers Day and Fathers Day can represent two more opportunities for attracting new customers. But to be effective, you need to remember who you are appealing to. The majority of Mothers Day shopping is done by fathers and daughters, while Fathers Day shoppers tend to be primarily mothers. If you target your Mothers Day marketing toward mothers themselves, your campaign will likely fall flat. Instead, use advertising venues that appeal to the people who will actually be doing the shopping, and entice them with discounts, giveaways, and creative gift ideas.

Back to School Celebrations

According to the calendar, the new year begins on January 1st. However, for many families the new year actually begins when the kids go back to school in September. In fact, it's not uncommon for families to organize their entire lives and spending habits around the school year. As a small business owner, you need to look for entry points into the "family" calendar and there's no better opportunity than a back-to-school marketing campaign to make the public aware of your products and services. Offer a student discount, provide a coupon calendar for the school year - whatever it takes to insert your business into the lifestyle of a busy, school-age family.

Administrative Professionals' Day & National Boss' Day

Administrative Professionals' Day takes place on the third or fourth Wednesday in April and is actually part of Administrative Professionals' Week during the last full week in April. If you own a small business, you may already be familiar with the quandary of finding an appropriate way to honor the administrative professionals in your workplace. Why not capitalize on the problem and market a bundle of products or services that takes the hassle out of the holiday for employers? Conversely, you could use the same approach to provide a gift bundle for office workers to purchase for their employer on National Boss' Day (October 16th).