For some businesses, Christmas time is their craziest time of year. While for others, it’s the quietest time of the year. If you’re in the crazy camp, then this post won’t be much use to you (but can be applied at your quieter times). But for those of you who are currently twiddling your thumbs, I thought I’d suggest a few things you could be doing during this ‘down time’. December has actually been a busy one for me, but next week gets a little quieter, with only one course to run, so I’ll be putting some of this in to action myself!
1. Evaluate the Year
It’s a really good opportunity to spend time evaluating how 2017 has been for your business. Do an analysis of all your numbers. Profit and turnover are the obvious ones. But what about your email list? Social media following? Customer numbers? Number of new products or services released? And look at what worked well in the year and what didn’t work so well. Marketing campaigns. Social media activity. Which products/services sold best? And think about the best and worst things that happened in your business this year. It’s hard to grow moving forward if you don’t know how you’ve previously performed, so this will give you a basis for step 2…
2. Set Your Goals For The Year Ahead
It’s so important to set out your goals for what you want to achieve in the year ahead. Not just financial but life too, as this will relate to the financial success of your business. You should also think about the numbers mentioned above too and how you want to grow them, such as your email list and social media following. Consider the new offerings you want to create and how you want your team to grow. And set yourself a big scary goal too! One that will make 2018 the best year ever for you! It’s been proven that goals are more likely to be achieved if they’re written down, so make the time to write down all of the above. I have treated myself to this workbook to help my plan for the year.
3. Create Some Content
When we’re in the throws of day-to-day work, it can be hard to find time to create good content for social media. This time offers you the opportunity to have some content ready and waiting for the new year. This could be blog posts, videos, images, written updates, GIFs, infographics, or any other form of content that will work well for your business. You could also create a content calendar for the year, outlining what content you want to be released when through the year.
4. Design a New Product/Service Offering
If you’d love to offer something new to your customers next year, now is a great time to start creating that product or service. Think about the products and services that worked best in 2017 and how you could advance on those in 2018. I have a new programme I’m launching in the new year, and I’m going to start recording it next week.
5.Create a Launch Strategy
Now you have your new product or service, you could create a launch strategy for how you’re going to let you customers know about it. Write emails, social media posts, create videos, and do whatever is included within your launch strategy so it’s all ready to go. Set the sequence to build up to the launch, and work out how you’re going to wow those who have purchased the product so they talk about it!
6. Learn Something New
I’m a big fan of learning. It’s definitely been the number one factor in growing my business over the 8 years I’ve been in business (and of course, implementing what I’ve learnt!). To me, any down time is an opportunity to learn something new. Grab a book that you know will impact your success in 2018. Or sign up to an online course and learn about a new topic. I worked with Fresh Bananas this year on creating a social media marketing module for their online SEO course. If you want to learn about SEO, with a bit of social media thrown in, then take a look here. And, obviously, if you’re looking for social media success in 2018, then you need a copy of this book!!
7. Take a Break
Sometimes we can push ourselves too much, and a break is actually a good thing for our business. Christmas is busy enough without adding extra pressure on yourself. If you’ve had a busy year, but the next couple of weeks are really quiet for you, then relax and enjoy them! You’ll be ready to hit 2018 refreshed and ready for your best year ever!!!
