Christmas really is coming. We’re probably just days away from hearing Mariah or Slade on the radio… and yet some brands are very badly prepared for Christmas. But don’t worry, I’m here to help!
6 things you can do to get ready for Christmas RIGHT NOW
Christmas is a big time of year for many retailers with profit made over the next few months carrying them over into Winter, and yet, there’s the tenancy to be a bit last minute about it all, isn’t there?
On this episode of the podcast I share six things you can do right now to help your business grow and thrive during the festive season. I hope you find it useful… it’s a good one!
Some of these are time consuming, some not so much, but all are free at an entry level, so there’s no excuse not to get cracking!
- Make a plan. Whether you like to make plans on paper or the computer, make a plan. I’m a fan on planning with pen and paper, but you do you! You can use a smart and snazzy planner, or you can head over to Google and print off a month to view. Think of the key dates for you. Things like Black Friday, last order dates, last postage dates, write them all down. This will then help you to see what you’re aiming for and when and it can help you to plan your content to let people know what’s happening and when too. If you’re a brand ambassador, reach out to your brands. If you want to be a good brand ambassador (and who wants to be any other type, right?), make sure you reach out to the brands you work with and ask them what they’re up to and how you can help them achieve their goals.
- Get the dates. If you’re working with magazines and websites, reach out to them and find out when their deadline are. And please, please, comply with the guidelines any magazine or website details. If someone asks for 50 words, supply them with 50 words. There are NO prizes for sending 1000 words. Actually, quite the opposite, you probably won’t be picked…
- Strategic gifting. Think who you may like to gift products to on the run up to Christmas. These might be influencers or even customers. However, do the work now. Make sure you’ve identified who you might like to work with, do the research, then reach out and start to get people ‘booked’ in so you can start to formulate a plan.
- Grow your mailing list. If you haven’t got a mailing list- NOW IS THE TIME TO START. If you have a mailing list, then put some time into building this and really thinking about the value that you can offer to people, to help incentivise more sign ups. Also plan when you’ll be emailing your people, and what you’ll be contacting them about.
- Collateral. Start working on your images, videos. graphics and the other marketing collateral that you can create ahead of time. This means that when things get really busy on the run up to the big day, you’ll have all your imagery ready to go, which will be SO useful for you. Trust me on this.
- Your own content. Make sure you’ve spent some time on your own content. Your own blogs, gift guides, etc etc. It’s important we take part in the guides of others, but it’s also vital we make our own content too.
Are you ready?
