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Chill Out With A Summer
Time Marketing Plan
by Bonnie Jo Davis
Is your business experiencing a summer time
slump? Traditionally only industries related to travel enjoy
a boost in business during the warmer months. The rest of us
tend to take vacations, clean up our desk and while away the
time playing computer games while we wait for business to pick
up.
Summer time can and should be a time when business
owners prepare for the marketing they will do for the rest of
the year and handle tasks they have been putting off when business
is brisk.
Some of the marketing tasks that can be handled during the
summer are:
1) Turn previously dead leads into sales. Contact
everyone who expressed an interest in your product or services
but did not follow through. They may have more time to consider
your offers during the summer and you might be able to reach
them more easily if their secretary is on vacation.
2) Create and begin to market that newsletter you always planned
on starting.
3) Write a press release related to summer
time activities and send it to appropriate newspapers both on-line
and off-line.
4) Ask a few business associates to review
and offer suggestions about your marketing materials. Update
your materials to get them ready for the busier times ahead.
Next start getting ready for the future with the following
tasks:
1) Write at least twelve articles related to
your business and have them proofread and edited until they
are polished. You will submit one article each month for the
next year to appropriate publications.
2) Create a web site marketing plan. Research
web site promotion on the internet and create a list of items
that you can work on for the next several months.
3) Develop several contests for your web site
visitors and newsletter subscribers that you can run regularly
during the year. Prepare advertising text, rules and decide
on prizes.
4) Contact your local Chamber of Commerce and
offer to speak at a fall or winter event. Write your speech
and practice it until you feel comfortable working without notes.
5) Research and budget for e-zine and newsletter
advertising for the next twelve months. Set up a tickler file
to remind you when to submit and pay for your ads.
Grab a glass of lemonade and get started on using the summer
months to your advantage. Implement just a few of the ideas
in this article every summer and watch your sales soar all year
round!
Bonnie Jo Davis is a Virtual Assistant specializing
in frugal marketing. Bonnie is also the author of the e-book
"Articles That Sell." For more information
about Bonnie visit http://www.
ArticlesThatSell.com.
(c) 2003, Davis Virtual Assistance.
All rights reserved.
The author grants reprint permission
to all venues so long as
the copyright and by-line are included intact.
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