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White Cap Marketing Internet Marketing and Business Tips, with concentrations on Search Engine Marketing, Social Networks, and Internet Programming advice from The Search Artist:
Joseph Franklyn McElroy
From magazine "Open" issue September 2001 - "The McElroys kick open the doors of old business models and capitalize on what they believe."
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Marketing for Slow Summer Months
Summer is a bad time for my business. On the one hand I am eager to be outside fishing or swimming or doing something fun. On the other hand, my potential clients seem to be doing the same thing. The phones are dead, the traffic on the web site goes down, the network meetings are not well attended. What to do? Here are some ideas I implement during the summer:
1) Blog and write more. As a business selling expertise, you need to establish a publishing record of expert comments, analysis, and expositions. The slow summer months make time for you to catch up with the writing you missed during the rest of the year. Also, by writing a blog, you create more search engine landing pages that might attract you new business. Biana Babinsky has some useful Business Blogging Summer tips.
2) Try to arrange speaking engagements at a local Chamber of Commerce or similar business group. Many groups have a hard time attracting speakers during the summer. If you can't arrange an engagement, take the time to prepare a speech for the coming year and offer to those groups for winter or full meetings during the year. Bonnie Jo Davis suggests a good task for the summer is to learn your speech so that you can give it without notes during the coming year.
3)Target seasonal businesses. While most businesses suffer during the summer, there are seasonal businesses that do better. The travel industry is an example. Offer special promotions and industry-specific products and services. But remember, once in the busy season, a seasonal business is not going to be interested in long term strategic services; they buy those in the off-months. You have to provide services or products that can help them NOW.
4)Pay attention to your existing customers. Call up your best customers and find out how they are doing, their summer plans, and other relationship type conversations. Ask them to refer you to friends. Offer them special discounts. Send them thank you cards. Shel Horowitz has some good tips for personal marketing to your clients.
5) Review your missed opportunities - were there prospects in the last few months who fell through the cracks? Or, who because you were too busy, you could not afford to take on as clients. Seek them out and offer them discounts to start during the summer.
6) Cold call. Yes, I know I hate it also. But in the summer months, prospects are not going to be as busy as they are the rest of the year. So they might have the time to listen to your pitch. Susan Ward has some good tips on cold-calling.
That is it for now. Remember that the summer months are also a good time to create your marketing plan for the rest of the year. You have the time to research you markets (target customers and keyword markets). And more importantly, create a budget for next year so that you will not have to spend as much time marketing during the summer...you can take a vacation!!!!
Joseph Franklyn McElroy
Star of the World Wide Web
Can help with your marketing and Internet R&D.
Corporate Performance Artists
posted by joseph mcelroy @ 9:19 AM
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JG Wentworth Competitor worth considering who sells structured settlements. They are Woodbridge Investments LLC
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