In my 3rd year of business, I keep running into false and limiting beliefs around doing business in the summer time. People, just because the temperature got above freezing after 6 months of shivering doesn’t mean that marketing your business stops. Here are 4 things you should definitely do if you DON’T want clients to hire you today.
1. Take The Summer Off
Go ahead, the kids are out of school, your business is doing ok, you can afford it right? Wrong. Right about September, my phone starts ringing with clients trying to re-engage my services because they didn’t put in any marketing time over the summer. Do not stop your marketing. Just work it around the early Friday take-offs to the cottage or long weekends but keep at it.
2. Assume That Everyone Also Takes The Summer Off
This is a big one because it affects how you operate. Do you stop sending emails to event organizers to get speaking gigs? (most speaking is planned in the summer!) Do you stop calling key people to move your business forward because you assume they are away for holidays? As Bob Newhart says in his hilarious video as a psychotherapist, “Just Stop It”!
3. Don’t Plan For A Drop In Numbers
I found out that if I don’t proactively plan to be MORE visible and busy in the summer months, that my numbers do indeed go down. So this year for the first time, I’m going to be participating in US trade shows and I’m actually even participating in a golf tournament with my key prospects. I’ll let you know if I get kicked off the course but I can promise you that by anticipating a drop in my natural numbers and putting in counter-measures, I feel much better going into the summer.
4. Skip Networking For The Summer
I admit, some networking groups actually break for the summer so even if I wanted to, I couldn’t attend their meetings. However, I’ve cleverly found others that just do events in the summer. Also, as I’ve already mentioned, I’ve signed up for a very uncomfortable (for me) sport which seems to be revered by my target clients in the summer. Find out where your ideal clients are this summer and go hang out with them. Just don’t sit in your backyard and BBQ. Get out there.
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