“Summertime and the living is easy…”
I lived for summers as a kid! Three months of staying up late, riding bikes, and hanging out by the pool! I went back to school every single year with a fantastic tan, and slightly green hair from all the chlorine. I LOVE summers!
BUT I also love keeping my numbers up during the summer. And balancing out the play and the profits requires a specific strategy.
Summer is not business as usual around here. Our family is always, busy, so it’s not that summer is more busy, it’s just different busy. We have scout camps, and church camps, and band camps and family vacations. Plus, I want time to play with my kids while they are out of school. Summer is full of distractions. Can any of you relate?
Guess who else is experiencing this? YOUR CLIENTS! So here’s how I get my summer strategy in place.
- Review the revenue goals. Where are you at in relation to your annual goal? If you’re ahead, can you afford to slow things down a bit over the summer? If you’re behind, are you willing to pick up the pace? Make sure you are clear on the revenue you are trying to produce in June, July and August. It will make a huge difference in how you plan out your summer.
- Plan out your personal calendar for the entire summer. It completely goes against my inner desire to just wake up in the summer, roll out of bed and decide, “What do I want to do today?” But it’s essential for the balance I have between profits and play. My entire summer is already laid out on the calendar. I have every camp, every activity, every trip entered in. It’s the only way I can have that fun summer and still plan marketing and sales campaigns around it.
- Get your summer marketing calendar in place. If you are a follower of mine, this should be redundant. I recommend always having 6-12 months laid out of your marketing calendar. But now that the summer is here, we really need to review the plan. Does it still work? Do you need to tweak your campaigns to build relevance to break through your client’s summer distractions? Do you need to add something in? Make sure your marketing schedule is ready to go, or you’ll find yourself with a flat summer, and feeling behind in the Fall.
- Set the sales goals and make sure you’ve got a plan in place to achieve them. This one sounds so simple don’t be tempted to ignore it. You’d be surprised how many business owners have a yearly goal, but don’t start off the month committed to hitting a certain number THIS month. Instead they look at the end of the month number and just celebrate or lament. What is the number you are going to hit in June? What actions need to happen in order to get you there? Don’t wait another day to make sure this one is in place!
Be creative. Plan fun work. And adjust HOW you work. I work consistently 12 months a year. But there are times of the year when I need to mix up the work. In 2014, I did a speaking tour/ extended family vacation with my family in conjunction with my book release. This summer, I’ve got some mastermind trips planned, and will be attending social networking events. It’s a great way to create new connections and generate business, without being stuck in my office for the entire day. Utilize the long days and adjust work hours in order to create space for you to play. I’ll be cranking it out during the day, and then playing at night. But you might be the opposite. Maybe you want to go to the pool, but you can still get in 6 hours when you get home. And sometimes, just working poolside feels like a vacation.
You’re the boss! That means summer play and summer profits are 100% in your reach! Tell us about your summer strategy and tips!