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Christmas In July?
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I know, I know… it’s hot, it’s humid, it is July. BUT… the holidays are just around the corner and NOW is the time to start planning your holiday marketing. What are you going to do this year to increase your holiday sales? Here are some ideas:
1. Participate in holiday craft shows, bazaars, etc Start looking for announcements of upcoming events now, as some will have registration deadlines, etc
2. Contact local businesses in November and see if you can schedule a shopping day where you can bring in your items and the office workers can purchase on the spot or order for delivery
3. Contact local daycares in October and see if you can schedule a “craft day” where you can bring in a project that the children can make and give as a gift to mom or dad. Just remember to get paid for these supplies and your time in advance! Bring in name tags for the kids to use that have your biz info on the back. You can get lots of referral sales this way : )
4. Send press releases now to larger media outlets and in October to smaller, local media. Who knows? Maybe you will be featured on the front page of the paper or in an interview on your local tv station. That will definitely spur on your sales!
5. Get listed in The IndieBizChicks.com Holiday Gift Guide! This is much more than just a gift guide. There are articles, recipes, and more. People will be hanging on to this for years to come (and every time they browse it, they’ll see your ad!) To see a sample page, visit:
http://www.indiebizchicks.com/holiday-gift-guide-sample.pdf
For info on how to get listed, fill out this form:
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P.S. Increase your sales this month by holding a “Christmas In July” sale. This will help you get rid of extra inventory, too!
An exercise in getting to know your target audience
Many small business owners struggle with promoting themselves. They know they need to get the word out so they start to think about advertising. There are so many options when it comes to promotions. Where should you advertise? Print? Online? On the side of a bus? The key to answering these questions lies with the answer to another question……Who is your target audience?
Let’s use an example and say your target market is moms. Well, a mom can be many other things. This is a large and diverse group of people so let’s try to break it down further. Let’s pick one mom to be your ‘ideal’ customer.
Where does she live?
What kind of income does her family have (remembering she often controls the family income)
What kind of house does she live in? Does she rent or own?
When she gets dressed in the morning what does she wear?
Where would she have bought those clothes?
What does she make herself for breakfast? Does she make a big family meal or just have coffee while trying to get her kids out the door. Or maybe she prefers to drink tea?
When she piles the kids in the car what type of car is it? A minivan? Crossover SUV or is it a 1989 station wagon?
Once the kids are at school where does she go? Home, work or to a yoga class?
Ok, so I think you see where I’m going with this. In order to reach your target audience you need to get inside the head of your ideal customer. Think about the places they go, the magazines they read and the websites they surf.
If she owns her home, wears sweats and drives that 1989 station wagon then I doubt she’s reading the newest issue of Vogue so don’t worry about how you’ll afford to advertise there. Maybe the local paper would be a better fit so she sees your ads while placing a classified to get rid of her wagon.
If she wears a dress suit, drives an SUV, works full time and grabs a Starbucks on the way she may be reading that issue of Vogue on her lunch break. That’s a pricey publication to get into so think about some alternatives. What about putting up a flyer at her favourite lunch stop (she likely eats out instead of brown bagging it) or sponsoring her daughter’s soccer team?
If you’re thinking it’s all a bit stereotypical then you’re right, it is. Being too narrowly focused isn’t right either but, it’s a great starting point. Once you have a feel for your ideal customer you can branch out a little to expand your audience. This will give you a bit of room for error and hopefully your message will reach its target and you will begin to see a return on your investment.
H.E.Eigler also blogs at Maternal Spark - a blog for creative moms.
My article in Venus is now online…
If you missed my article in the Spring issue of Venus on techniques indie businesses can use to get their businesses noticed, the article is now online for your reading pleasure. You can find it at http://www.venuszine.com/articles/diy/resources/3409/Spotlights_on_you_
Read my article on Etsy! (using Father’s Day to increase sales)
I am getting ready to get on the plane to Michigan, so I don’t have too much time to blog right now. But you can read my article on Etsy - it’s about using Father’s Day to increase sales! Find it by clicking here.
Get Ready For Power Publicity Version 2.0
If you were one of the first people to learn about the launch of IndieBizChicks.com last year, you probably remember the “Power Publicity!” guide.
This was a free guide that I used to generate some buzz about the launch of the website, and I gave it away to my first 100 subscribers.
I used the same techniques I wrote about in the guide to promote my own website and since launching the site - less than a year ago, I’ve received some amazing results.
And that leads me to the point of this whole email. I’m now working on “Power Publicity! Version 2.0″
This new, updated, bigger, better version will have all the stuff the first one had, PLUS some! In addition to the extra info, I’ll be sharing my own experiences throughout the past year.
I’m still putting the finishing touches on the new version, but in the meantime, I put together this free 5 day ecourse which will definitely get you started on your publicity journey!
You can grab it here: http://www.indiebizpublicity.com/ecourse.html
I’ll keep you updated and let you know as soon as Version 2.0 is ready!