How many times have I said it? This year was a huge transitional year for business and for me personally. It has impacted nearly ever aspect of business and so obviously, this holiday season is no exception.
Because I am planning some big and different things for 2015, I am aiming to use this holiday season to make room ( read: clear out ) a lot of stock! I’ve added action steps for you to take as part of each of my preparations as well to help you sort through it!
Action step: prep your holiday season calendar, mark off newsletters and their content and set order and shipping deadlines for national and international orders!
I’m in the process of brainstorming and nailing down some ways to take advantage of the “official” start of the shopping season in the states, Black friday – and the whole of Thanksgiving Weekend. It’s an embarrassing time for us Americans wherein we leave our family gatherings to go fight it out for a huge discount on a TV. It’s shameful really, but there are some positives to the whole thing. This is a huge opportunity for retailers and it is, in fact, foolish not to take advantage of it.
Action step: make sure any holiday items are renewed, correctly categorized and tagged appropriately!
Beyond the Thanksgiving weekend show down, I have already added a few key Holiday specific items to my shop. On Etsy, I always try to have a few items that can be pulled for features or treasuries even if I don’t plan on selling a million of them. They bring in the interest and help me get some placement in Holiday specific site-wide marketing initiatives.
Action step: order new marketing materials and packaging supplies now so they are ready to go!
My other main goal this season is to implement some of my favorite marketing know how. During times of (hopefully) high traffic and sales, it’s best to make the most of packaging materials and follow up! I like to include postcards with my orders advertising my website and this holiday I am going to include a piece with all orders about the big things I have planned for 2015.
Action step: Stock up on tea and chocolate now. Haha.
The holidays are so exciting but can be so stressful. Honestly the past three holiday season wore me out through to march. Completely chaotic. This year I would like to leverage the opportunity to make money, obviously, but also maintain some sense of normalcy in my life, I have no plan for that yet, and it truly is a wait and see sort of situation, but it’s something to keep in mind.
Take care of your customers, but don’t forget to take care of yourself as well! And enjoy the holidays with your friends and family. That should be part of the goal as well for us all I think!
