Tired Of Holiday Wishes Yet?

I adore vacations and time spent with loved ones as much as the next gal. I love presents and shiny decorations and big celebrations more than you can imagine. Then what’s my beef about getting a gazillion Happy Holidays emails in my inbox? It’s not differentiated. And in marketing speak, in the world of small business, it’s a death sentence to be like EVERYONE else.
Here are a few tips to pull up your proverbial marketing socks for next year if you’ve already gone ahead and hit send this year.
Say or do something different than every other business
For the love of God, if you’re going to send Holiday wishes at Christmas or Valentine’s messages in February or Save Now messages on boxing day, say it differently than everyone else. I was almost nauseated by the amount of the same old same old messages that I got in my inbox this year. Maybe I even sent the same myself last year. But this year, I have a bigger understanding of what it means in business to stand out, deliver different things and to be noticed. Look at how a company called Cards Against Humanity stood out from the rest on Cyber Monday and actually increased their prices, getting a record increase in their sales.
Use your brand voice
A client asked me, “what will I say that’s different than all those gurus who have more knowledge, more training and more experience about this subject?” I told her, you have something nobody else has and that’s your personality. Nobody sees the world from your eyes or can explain things in exactly the way that you do. This point was brought home to me when I heard the exact same message from a 70 year old American hippy called Dr.Wayne Dyer and then a decade later, heard a 40 year old leopard tights-clad woman named Danielle LaPorte spouting the same teachings. Was the message different? No, it’s universal. But the way that each delivered it was so unique that I was made astoundingly aware of this phenomenon-that it’s not what you say but HOW you say it that resounds with people.  What can you do to add your brand voice to the equation and say what you truly want to say to your followers to wish them well in the new year?
Give something
Even if you can’t afford to give gifts to all your clients and networks over the holidays, give the gift of advice or understanding. Call someone you know who is spending the holidays away from loved ones. . This is a time for giving so instead of the middle finger, why not give some love to a former client who you parted ways with acrimoniously?
This article is my own way of wishing you your dreams-come-true in the new year. I hope you think it was different than everyone else’s.
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Related articles

• Christmas for Entrepreneurs (sme-blog.com)
• Ask the Entrepreneurs: 8 Things Founders Should Take Care of Before Shutting Down for the Holidays (lifehack.org)
• 5 Ways to Escape Holiday Debt (biztelevision.wordpress.com)