Summer Businesses Are Built In Winter!

Winter is often one our quieter times in business

Whether you are service or product based, the change of season, cold weather and shorter days often signal our customers to hunker down and spend more time at home - which filters through to most businesses even though it may not ultimately have a huge impact on some.

We often find ourselves constantly pressured for time during the busier times of year….well the upside of Winter is that, time is what we have got more of!

Winter presents us with opportunities to look at core systems & process, count & clear stock, communicate with our customers and stay consistent and tidy up areas of our business that have been neglected for too long!

Focusing on admin tasks in your business that are constantly put on the back burner in the peak seasons will put you miles ahead when the weather begins its slow creep towards warmth and longer days again. 

So without the intensity of peak season, moment to moment interactions with our customers we can efficiently and effectively work through some of our business to dos that end up lower on the priority list during our busiest times…

Below are just a few of my key suggestions to work on in your business over the Winter period - please download the checklist at the bottom of this post as it will give you some actual actions in each of these areas 

 

If you want more than a checklist - like some close support, and to work alongside a community of business owners who are sharing their experiences as they work towards similar goals then enter your details below to be notified of our NEW Membership program launching soon!

Your database is gold. Or it should be!

All too often we let our database of customers go to ruin, not checking and updating it regularly, not tagging our customers correctly or having a plan for how to further capture and drill down to find out more about our customers, and on top of that so many of us don’t consistently communicate with our customer database.

On top of this depending on your audience size - you PAY for your contacts ( ie 500+ on mailchimp 250+ on Klaviyo and you need to have a paid plan)

So here is your your wake up call - Now is the time to clean it up babe - trust me

Most of us are communicating to our customers via one or more of Email, Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, Pinterest - the inclination can set in from time to time to put more weight on one version of communication.

Instagram has been many product /service based businesses drug of choice ( guilty 🙋‍♀️)

But we have to remember a couple of things here..customers are in different places at different times, they sometimes favour one method more than others and on top of that due to the high volume of content we all consume it is hard to cut through the noise all the time.

Take a step back - look at each of your channels, record some growth goals for each ( that doesn’t always mean more followers but maybe more engagement on product posts for example, more comments or more actions taken perhaps)

And then diarise how you are communicating and via what platform..remember to be realistic because consistency is key!

This is the perfect time to build up your image banks - don’t stress about fancy cameras ( but if you have one - use it! Google best settings for different environments)

Take photos on different surfaces, inside, outside ( bright sunlight rocks for cool shots on a plane colour background )

Take video using your products, how to’s, time lapses or slow mo’s are all fun.

Get in front of the camera if you can - customers LOVE to see your face, you will get so much more engagement if you show customers your business reality ( or a glorified version is just as good )

Don't forget tools like Canva are amazing for resizing images and removing backgrounds* (in CanvaPRO* ) 

When was the last time you really updated and refreshed your website ? 

Just like any storefront, your website VM needs refreshing from time to time, think about your header text, slideshow images and blog articles....even look at your colours & fonts - remember there is trending style/fashion in digital as well as clothing & interiors. (thats another blog article!) 

In the back end, perhaps adding sales or marketing apps like a wishlist or instagram or Tiktok slider, to share a way for your customer to interact with you. 

Now is the perfect time to check integrations, or update product descriptions or info pages too!

If you are unsure what you may need, or would prefer to have someone else review your site for you and give you some key tips & actions then check out my UX Audit /Back End Audit to get a personalised video and checklist to get you started! 

Just focusing on these four areas can keep you not only engaged and busy, but they truly will help move your business forward during this season.