For many business owners the next 6 to 7 weeks is going to be just that little bit harder with the kids being off school. Many (myself included) will be trying to organise childcare and/or rejig business commitments around so they can get through the coming weeks and still have a business at the end of summer.
Maybe you don’t have the deal with children over the summer holidays, maybe you have a busy period coming up or need to be away for a while. Whatever it is your business has to keep running, your marketing has to keep going. Consistency is important and the only way to ensure you still have clients to work with at the end of the period.
There are a few things you can do to keep things ticking over and running smoothly. Here are my Top 5 Tips to help you and your business survive the summer holidays!
Tell your clients
People generally don’t mind this as long as you are honest and open with them about what’s going on. You don’t need to share intimate details, just what may affect your availability and ability to meet certain deadlines.
Many business owners work around other family commitments so most will be fairly sympathetic.
Don’t take the biscuit though, you still need to deliver!
Schedule your activity
Planning your marketing during this period is paramount. Doing a little bit everyday will go a long way. Write a short blog and share it, post and respond to something on Twitter or Facebook; make a couple of calls to potential clients. Whatever you can fit in will help.
Automate some of your marketing
If you really wanted to and your business type lent itself to it, you could incorporate marketing automation into your business. Anything from a direct message to an interested party who has just followed you on Twitter to taking that prospect all the way through the sales funnel until all that is needed is a personal message to say ‘thank you for your purchase’ and even that can be automated!
It doesn’t work for all businesses though, many require a level of personal service to be given to prospects in order to make a sale, but you can automate parts of it to save time and help things runs more efficiently.
Companies like Hubspot, Marketo and SAS all provide platforms that help business owners save time and make money by running their campaigns more effectively. However, use these systems with caution, you still need a firm understanding of the technology as well as ins and outs of how marketing campaigns work.
There are smaller things you can automate to keep things ticking over:
Focus on one goal
Focus on just one thing to help you market yourself or your business during the period. That might be writing the first draft or finalising that book you’ve been meaning to write ready for launch at the end of summer.
If you are a budding author you may want to register for this How To Become A Best-Selling Author Webinar.
Maybe your goal is to sort out your CRM system so you’re clear on where you are with each client or prospect in your contacts list. Or it could be spent reviewing your marketing and planning your strategy for the rest of 2013 going into 2014.
Whatever it is, you make sure you’re ready to go with it at the end of summer!
Outsource your marketing
This is always an option, even if it’s for a short period. If your business has got to a size where you can’t do it all yourself or you’ve not had much success in what you’ve been doing so far, bringing in some professional support this is always a good option so you can focus on doing the business you love.
If you are or you know someone who is struggling to keep their marketing going during the summer holidays or busy periods lets have a chat and see what the options are.
What will you struggle with the most this summer?
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