When you first start your online business you’re so consumed with product creation that you probably aren’t even thinking about how you’re going to promote your business/product. Beyond your pay-per-click campaign and other marketing strategies you should consider the seasons of the year during your planning process.
Once your initial offering is created and your site is up and running you need to keep those wheels turning. You’re not done! 🙂 At least, if you’re going to be wildly successful you’re not.
Now it’s time to map out your coming year. So get some paper and pen and write out the months of the year and start to consider the seasons and what people are doing and how they are feeling during each quarter of the year.
At the start of the year people are focused on re-investing, New Year’s resolutions, and learning. This is a prime time to launch a product. From the first of the year until the United States spring break people are more willing to purchase information products than any other time of the year.
From spring break until schools let out for summer is more of a down time, and then over the summer things can pick up again. During the slower times you want to have sales and promote your products, or else you will experience a lull in sales. A spring break sale, spring sale, or 4th of July sale are all good ideas.
When the weather starts to turn cooler in the Fall people again start to think about school, learning and reading. This is another good time to launch a new product.
The 4th quarter just plain stinks. This is the time to get rid of inventory, if you have it, and run sales. You will probably experience a lull no matter what you do now, so it’s time to create a new product to launch after the first of the year. And it’s also time to go on vacation yourself! Here’s your lap top on the beach moment. 🙂 Then you will be all set to launch your next great product after January 1st when everyone will be all keyed up to buy information products again.
During slow times you can run sales and create more products, during fast times just focus on customer service issues and keeping things running smoothly.
The main point is to keep creating and keep moving forward. Don’t think that once you get your offering out there and your site up that you are done. You certainly can be, but it won’t last forever. You have to keep innovating and creating if you want that internet ATM to keep depositing cash into your bank account!
To your Success!
Sara Murray