post-Veterans Day: A Call to Action

Did you know there are more than just a hand-full of ways to thank a veteran? Our MilitaryAvenue team was busy brainstorming easy ways for the every-day American to thank a Veteran and we came up with quite a list! If you missed it check it out: "101 Ways to Thank a Veteran" It was featured at Army.mil, many-personal and professional blogs, a number of military-gear sites, facebook accounts, and tweeted all over twitter. People want to share how THEY can help support our US Veterans!

So now is the call to action!

25.Offer a Military Discount year round and include veterans. Don't forget a
Military Discount equals a free ad on MilitaryAvenue.com. Find out more: Why
is a Military Discount Valuable for a Marketing Strategy

Do you offer a Military Discount year round? We don't just give 'Thanks' on Thanksgiving; we do it year round. We aren't thankful for our family only on Christmas; we are year round. We aren't thankful to be a great country only on the 4th of July; we do it year round. We shouldn't give thanks to our Veterans only on Veterans Day!

If you are a MilitaryAvenue.com Partner already, THANK YOU! Please let others know how they can 'Thank our Veterans'.

If you haven't signed-up yet become a MilitaryAvenue.com Partner today. You will be proud of thanking our military-families 365 days a year!

- The MilitaryAvenue.com Team

November's Featured Military Reward

Fall is definitely here and our beautiful leaves in Michigan are now gone! During October we continued to see a rapid growth in the number of new ads at MilitaryAvenue offering a Military Reward! We enjoy seeing all of the new ads at MilitaryAvenue because they are connecting the military community with military friendly businesses that support the troops with actions! There are so many new ones and their great Military Rewards make choosing the best one a very tough job! The MilitaryAvenue team has chosen a military family owned photography business with a great MilitaryReward! If you know of a business offering a military discount tell them about MilitaryAvenue!

This Month's Featured Military Reward is given to:

Bittner Photography

Their Military Reward says:

25% Discount to Military Personnel & Family. Thanks for serving our country!!!

Click here to view the coupon featured at the Pentagon, Andrews AFB and Ft Myer.

A special thank you to Bittner Photography and all of our MAPP partners for supporting your military community with your Rewards.

Why Should Your Business Offer A Military Discount?

We choose a Featured MilitaryReward each month to highlight our Partners and their wonderful support to the military community! Our military family team chooses one based on value for the military family and how well it sends the message "military friendly business".

MAPP Tip of the Month

"Walk a mile in my shoes" is usually used to describe what you should do before you criticize someone. I would like to use it differently to describe what you should do while considering marketing to the military community!


Have you ever walked a mile in a pair of combat boots?! How about the sneakers of a young child who has a parent in Iraq/Afghanistan and fears they might not seem them again? Or the heels of a woman who goes to bed every night without her husband knowing he is flying dangerous missions and she can't fall asleep without praying for him for an hour? Or wear a husband's dress shoes while he worries about his wife in a combat zone without him nearby? How about a parent's work shoes that raised and protected a child and now that child is in combat and they can no longer protect them?

Those "shoes" reflect the military community and what they face day to day and cope quite well with I might add due to community support such as yours! Schools, military programs, the Red Cross, YMCA, etc have all leaned forward to help the military community while it is fighting the nation's wars and you as a MilitaryAvenue Partner are doing the same! Thank you so much!

Tell your story while you listen to theirs! How do you walk in their combat boots in your ad! A simple "thank you" says a lot! Take the time to make the ad tell your story of support and appreciation. Make the Business Profile and Military Reward have some pzazz! Believe me everyone likes a buck but some times recognition for a sacrifice, job well done, etc. carries a bigger kick when reviewing an ad. Update your ad with a year round MilitaryReward but if there is a special event add a special for the troops coming home, Veteran's Day, Memorial Day, Armed Forces Week, etc.

Once you make contact with a military community member interested in your services or products; make it stick by showing appreciation for veterans, military members and their families during business hours! Train your front line sales personnel to look for an ID card at the register and tell them about the military specials and say thank you! How do you present yourself as military friendly!

Have you hired a veteran recently, a military family member or the teen age/college age kids of a deployed parent? Do it and then tell the community about it! Show how military friendly you are!

Veterans Day 2009 - What are you doing to honor our Veterans?

We are searching high and low for the businesses are taking the time to appreciate the military veteran this Veteran's Day. Not just your "Veterans Day deals" for the general public ... but the restaurant, the local merchant, the flower-shop, the home-improvement store, you name it, that wants to show their genuine appreciation for our veteran this Veterans Day 2009.

Veterans Day 2009 - Military Discounts

Click on our list above and revisit as we get closer November 11. We want to hear from you, too. If you know of an area military-Veteran's Day celebration place it as an event at your installation or if you know of a merchant (like yourself!) that is tipping their hat and digging into their bottom-line to honor our veterans send me an email with the details!

We look forward to hearing from you & finding out how our veteran's are being served!

- The MilitaryAvenue team

PS - How are you serving the veterans this Veterans Day? We Thank Veterans Campaign

October Featured Military Reward

The cool of Fall is here and we enjoy seeing all of the new ads at MilitaryAvenue! There are so many new ones and their great Military Rewards make choosing the best one a very tough job! As most of the country starts cooling off, indoor activities and entertainment can be a top search/choice for military members in a new community! Do you know a theatre that gives a military discount? Tell them about MilitaryAvenue!

This Month's Featured Military Reward is given to:

UltraStar Cinemas Mission MarketPlace 13
431 College Blvd
Oceanside, CA

Their Military Reward says:

Click here to view coupon featured at Camp Pendleton.

A special thank you to UltraStar Cinemas Mission MarketPlace 13 and all of our MAPP partners for supporting your military community with your Rewards.

Why Should Your Business Offer A Military Discount?

We choose a Featured MilitaryReward each month to highlight our Partners and their wonderful support to the military community! Our military family team chooses one based on value for the military family and how well it sends the message "military friendly business".

Putting Your Best Foot Forward

On the first of every month MilitaryAvenue Alerts is published to thousands of members of the military community around the country.

These are service-members and spouses, the decision makers, that are interested in the latest & most up to date military-discount and -incentive in their area, your area!

Do you keep your MilitaryAvenue ad up to date? We want to keep our military families interested in receiving Alerts and do not want to be 'grabbing their attention' with out of date ads. Therefore, the most up to date ads are listed first in the Alerts email that is sent out each month.

A great action-item to add to your electronic-calendar is a monthly-reoccurrence: "Update my ad on MilitaryAvenue". Update it the week prior to the first of the month and know that your ad will be seen first, above the 'less-then-up-to-date ads'.

Questions to ask yourself each month:

• Has my physical-address changed?
• Has my email changed?
• Is my phone number up to date?
• Does my business profile convey my professionalism and desire to meet my military-families needs? (You have 500 characters in your coupon and 1,000 characters in your Business Profile. The First Class package and higher have even more points-of-impact!)
• With a First-Class ad or above you can have a picture. Is your photo up to date?
• Consider having a standard Military-Discount but then adding something special for that month. Need some ideas?

We want to help you reach the military-community! Be sure to put your best foot forward for them. The first of the month will be here before you know it.

- The MilitaryAvenue.com team

PS: Do you want to receive monthly-Military Alerts also? Sign-up here: http://www.militaryavenue.com/answers/signup.aspx. (This is different then your Business Partner Account!) Be sure to select your nearest-installation when creating your user profile so that we know which 'Alerts' to send your way!

MilitaryAvenue & Supporting the Youth

Military families ... They deal with frequest moves, and in turn getting to know new communities. They also can deal with deployments or days away on missions that they (as family members) can't know details about. It isn't easy for a military family. Not only are they missing their solder, airman, marine, coastie or sailor, but they are also worried about them.

Military Family Support. It is a necessity. There are many ways the military families can find the support they need. They search for outreach programs, ways to connect. They need them. They can find it on base at their local Family Support Center or through their Youth Center. They can also find it off-base or -post. They can find the support they need through a local church, through their children's school, or at a local YMCA.

We, at MilitaryAvenue, created a category for children's support. Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Church Youth Groups, YMCA programs... you get the picture. All ways that children from preschool age to college can find the outreach they need as they struggle with the worries, missing mom or dad for a year at a time, or getting to know new friends in a new world for them.

Military & Family -> Youth Programs

Create your Ad on MilitaryAvenue

Like our category Worship Services, a Military Discount is NOT required to create a free-ad. If you are the representative of a Youth Program and want to spread the word to the military-community simply explain how your organization is going to support the military-family. This will fulfill the requirements for the Military Discount field.

We can't wait to see your ad on MilitaryAvenue. Thank you! from thousands of US Military Families for supporting us all.

- Leanne from MilitaryAvenue.com, a proud Army-wife who has benefited from organizations like yours!

PS Thank you to Girl Scouts of Western Washington for being our first "Youth Activities" Partner.