Get Your Business Summer Ready in 5 Easy Steps
Summer is upon us dear friends! Even though you may be itching to take time off, Summer doesn't have to mean slower sales for your business. By taking a bit of time to streamline your workflow and marketing, your business can grow while you're sipping your favorite umbrella-topped drink and sunbathing by the sea.
Here are 5 Easy Steps to Get your Business Ready for Summer
1. Automate your Marketing
Now's the time to finally set up that sales funnel you've been putting off. Even if you have nothing to sell over the summer, you can at least use the funnel to continue to start or grow your email list and build your audience.
Here are the quick steps to building your funnel:
a. Create your Opt-In Offer - keep your opt-in offer simple. Nothing fancy is needed here, especially since we're talking about working less over the Summer holidays. The best opt-in offers simply solve one specific problem and provide actionable content, so keep that in mind. Some ideas are a checklist, a resource guide, a how-to, a blueprint, a swipe file, a design guide, etc.
For example, I my opt-in offer is a link to free stock photos. That way, my dream client can grab them and start using them right away to add instant glam and polish to her branding - it is both valuable and actionable.
b. Set up your Mailing List - you need a place to keep all those emails, so set up a specific list in your email software. I use Mailchimp because it's free (until you reach a certain number of subscribers) and does what I need it to do for now. Again, keep it simple. Unless you have a huge list, you probably don't need a super robust (and expensive) solution right away.
c. Create a Landing Page - this can be as simple as a new page on your website, or you can try a service like LeadPages for a quick and easy set-up.
d. Run Facebook Ads - one of the easiest ways to get people to your landing page is to set up some targeted Facebook ads. Now this is a huge topic and the set-up can be a little bit techy - but don't let that scare you off! They truly work for most industries, so do a Google or YouTube search and spend an afternoon figuring out how to set them up. You can then schedule a campaign and have the ads running while you're away, helping you to build your audience.
e. Start an Autoresponder Series - here's where you'll write a series of 3-5 (or more) emails and set them to go out at specific intervals after someone has signed up for your list. In these emails, think about providing value, and helping people to get to know you and your brand better. Setting these emails as an autoresponder series makes sense because you only have to write them once and then you can 'set it and forget it' - perfect if you're planning on taking time off this Summer. Save your sales emails for the last couple of emails in the series, after you've built up that know/like/trust factor.
2. Schedule Your Social Media
Don't let your social media pages get stale, even if you're away on vacation. Normally I'm not a huge fan of scheduling social media posts, but sometimes it really does make sense. If you're going to be away, then write up some relevant posts, create your graphics and then schedule them in your favorite social media posting tool such as Buffer or Hootsuite.
3. Block off time to Write your Blog Posts
Keep the momentum flowing by writing and scheduling your blog posts. Even if you're planning on reducing the frequency of your posts, it's a good idea to at least have some new content on your blog over the summer. One way to do this is to block off a day or two to write your blog posts, and then schedule them to post when needed. This keeps your content fresh and your readers engaged, even while you're away.
4. Let your Clients and Customers Know you're Away
It's totally cool to take time off! You don't need to pretend you're slaving away all summer while they're off water skiing. In fact, you should take time off to recharge and get those creative juices flowing again. Letting your clients and customers know you're away will help to manage their expectations while you're gone. If possible, wrap up any big projects and let knew inquiries know when you'll be back and taking new clients again. Keeping them in the loop will keep you both happy and on the same page when it comes to timelines and deliverables.
You can set up an automated email as well so that if anyone emails you they know you're away for a few days and when to expect a call or email back.
5. Amp Up your Passive Income Streams
Now is a great time to promote those passive income streams you've created. Use your sales funnel and autoresponder series to boost sales from products and services that don't need you to do the work daily. If you have an old e-book or course that generates passive income, dust it off, give it a bit of love and start promoting it now to generate more income over the summer (and hopefully beyond).
Even if you don't have passive income streams now, you can start planning some products for next summer or another time when you have a vacation planned. You can also use your automated marking efforts to grow your list and create value for your audience so that when you're ready to work-it again in the Fall you've got interested clients lining up!
How are you going to get your business Summer Ready? Are you going to implement any of these tips or have some of your own? Share them with us in the comments below!
