The Business Chat - 19 more Fridays until....

The sun is shining, the bees are buzzing, today was scorching hot and a customer has just informed me that “hey guess what, there are 19 more Fridays until Christmas”. 

ARGH!

Yes people it’s time to start the holiday countdown! Right now sales are slow because everyone is on vacation (maybe you are too?). This is the perfect opportunity to start planning and scheduling your holiday season. As soon as September hits life will move into warp speed and before you know it you’ll be sitting around that tree ripping presents apart and wondering if it’s too late to list online those Santa earrings you made. 

While you’re sitting around in the sunshine with a lovely frosty beverage, grab your notebook and start planning. 

• Set your holiday goals. What would you like to see happen in your business this holiday season? Name a sales number. Write this number down on a big piece of paper and post in on your bulletin board so that you can see it everyday. 
• Work out your product line, are you creating anything special? If so how long does it take to make this and when should you order the supplies?
• Think about your packaging for the holiday season. Even if you don’t do anything special your sales will be higher than they are now and you’ll need extra packaging. Usually ordering in advance is cheaper, work out when to buy this. 
• Have you signed up for any craft shows? If no, why not??? It is late in the season to be looking however you never know until you check it out. Go and find one. 
• Good, you’re in a craft show. You’ll need to think about your booth display, packaging, and inventory. Start making notes and think about dates. If you want stuff like posters for your booth (highly recommended) how long does it take to have these made. Once you know this, put the dates on your work calendar. 
• Think about how you can improve your online store for the holidays. How about a special banner or other graphics? Start creating or see if you can find someone to create it for you at a cheap price. 
• Photos are the most important part of selling online. If you start shooting now you’ll have great shots ready to go when needed. Are your existing photos all that they can be? Why not write the descriptions for the holiday items now? Start now and you can polish to perfection before you list in November.  
• Write your shop holiday announcement including stuff like shipping deadlines. 
• Are you planning on doing any holiday advertising? When do you need to submit your copy? 
• Schedule in when you’ll send out your holiday newsletter. Don’t yet have a newsletter? Go and sign up at Mailchimp (free newsletter management) and learn how to create a newsletter.
• Perhaps you could host a private party for your work. Think about where to hold this, who to invite and when it should be. 
• How about some clever promotional ideas? Me, I’m creating bookmarks for my company. I’m eyeing the fridge magnets but the pricing is a bit steep. 

Start now and you’ll totally rock out the season while remaining cool and collected. 

Ps. Don’t forget that Christmas isn’t the only holiday coming up. There’s Halloween, Thanksgiving and Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19).