Avoid the “Summer Slump”
What excuses do you use not to market during the summer?
“Everyone is on vacation.” “No one wants to make decisions.” “It’s too hot.”
Whatever your excuses, summer can be a great time to market. Yes, some of your customers are on vacation, but so are your competitors. Summer tends to be a slow time in many businesses, and that may make it easier to reach the decision makers who will buy from you. They may have more time to meet with you and consider your offer.
Make it your goal to contact at least a few possible customers each day. They may be open to a meeting or a lunch date, so set as many appointments as you can.
If you are trying to bring customers in to your retail location, offer free bottles of chilled water to help them cool off.
Use the summer months to book yourself for free speeches to community organizations. Many organizations seek speakers months ahead, and they will welcome your offer to speak this fall.
Summer is also a good time to pursue publicity. The media never go on vacation. There are television and radio broadcasts every day, the newspaper still arrives on your front lawn each morning, and the newsstands are filled with the usual publications.
This would be a good time to pitch your story to media, as you may have less competition. And don’t forget that most magazines work on long lead times. They may be preparing stories for the holiday season or even next year right now. Make new contacts or follow up with your media contacts to see if you can help them with a story.
If you still find yourself with downtime, use it for the projects you can not seem to find time for the rest of the year. Rework your marketing materials, create a new brochure, or write a sales letter. Need a new look? Find a designer who can spruce up your visual image with a new logo and color scheme.
Have you been neglecting your web site? Make sure your information is current. Add some new content or give your site a new look. The search engines love new content, so adding information may help your online visibility.
Write some articles. Offer them to trade publications, publish them on your web site, or post them to article banks such as http//EzineArticles.com/, http//www.IdeaMarketers.com/ or http//www.GoArticles.com/. Or, take articles you have already written for your customer newsletter or other publications and upload them to your blog.
Would being a published author give you the expert reputation you need to attract more customers and boost your fees? Get started on your book and commit to writing several pages a day. If you have previously written articles, you may already have a head start on your book.
Keep marketing during the summer months to keep business coming your way, now and for the rest of the year. And don’t forget to take your vacation!
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