The last three weeks in December can be deadly for many businesses because so many people shift their attention to the holidays. Don’t they know you have a monthly nut!? lol
You can’t force people to buy if they don’t want to, but there are many clever ways to wring some cash from this dry month. The holiday season also offers plenty of opportunities for you to evaluate your business and set yourself up for a successful first quarter.
Here are 9 things you can do to help your business during this slow period. Even if you succeed at only one, you’ll be ahead of the game in the New Year.
9 ways to make hay when the sun isn’t shining
1. Evaluate your virtual team and make changes if necessary. Slowdowns are an excellent time to make decisions about changing or even creating a team. Your virtual team can include web designers, lawyers, and graphics wizards—anyone who can lighten your workload, so you can focus on the big picture.
2. Learn how to get more business via your website. Do a better job with this issue and next year’s slowdown won’t seem like such a big deal. Would you like to generate business leads and sales 24-7? Then look at how your website could be working better for you. (Check out my many products to help you do this such as the Triple Your Income audio CDs and and Social Media for Business audio CDs.)
3. Revamp your newsletter or launch a fresh publication. Nothing reminds prospects and customers about your great products and services like a quality newsletter that’s published on a regular basis. January is an excellent month to release your first issue!
4. Clean out that e-mail inbox once and for all! The end of the year slowdown is a great time to get a handle on your inbox. Delete e-mails that are more than a few months old. Set up e-mail folders and color codes to help you stay more organized in the future. If your software program allows, set “rules” to automatically sort incoming e-mails into those folders.
5. Clean up! Put on your favorite music, start digging out from under the rubble. Work with two strategies: touch most stuff only once and make piles so that your mess will at least be a more organized mess if you run out of time.
6. Upgrade or clean up your computer. The information in your computer is probably your most valuable asset, so take care of it! Upgrade your operating system, get rid of unnecessary files, archive old files to an external hard drive, add more disk space for all those downloads, and do system maintenance. Make sure your backup sytem is working. Not sure how to go about this? Find a dependable computer expert you can add to your team. (See #1.)
7. Let your clients know how much you are thankful for their business. Whether you send holiday cards, mail thank-you notes or make personal phone calls, you’ll be surprised at how good you feel when you thank the people who have done business with you during the year.
8. Write down your 25 best accomplishments for this past year. This simple exercise is extremely powerful. Acknowledging all the amazing things you did this year is very motivating!
9. Actually enjoy the holidays! The human race slows down during the holiday season. Stop fighting the rhythm of life and join the crowd. You’ll be glad you took this time to relax and so will your family. In the past, I’ve tried to force business during the holiday, which probably made me seem desperate.
We business owners need to give ourselves a much-deserved rest. Why not take it easy when everyone else does?
There! Feel better, yet?
Remind yourself that the purpose of the holidays is to take a step back and appreciate what you have. Use this valuable time to enjoy your family and friends, give back to others, and be good to yourself. So take a walk in the snow, play an extra game or two with your kids, and plan a fun night out with your significant other.
You’ll be back to work before you know it.
Remember, there’s only one Christmas this year.
I’m writing this blog post during commercials for game seven of the 
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The Rotary Club of Troy will honor a number of women business leaders at a special luncheon on Wednesday, October 5th, 2011.
Head west on Big Beaver so you can turn right onto Lakeview Drive between Somerset North and Bank of America. Make an IMMEDIATE right into the first driveway. This will take you into the guest parking lot. Leave a few extra minutes to clear bank security at the front door.
A while back, I did something most business people never do.
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