Business During The Holidays

Is your business very quiet at holiday time?  Are your clients busy with other things? Are your clients limited with funds due to holiday spending?

Here are 12 ideas to help you be productive during the holidays.

1 - Stay on a routine as much as possible.  If you always start work at 9am then start at 9am.

2 - Do a minimal amount everyday.  Even one hour a day can keep you in the game and keep you productive so you do not start 2025 at a dead stand still.

3 - Check emails daily.  Delete anything you do not need.  Only deal with the urgent ones.

4 - Create a 'to do list' for 2025.  Whether it is emails you ignored or other tasks, take the time to put them on your to do list.

5 - Respond to emails that require your attention.  "Quick note to confirm I received your email.  I will respond in the new year.  Happy Holidays!"

6 - Write one article you can use for your blog, newsletter or website in the new year.

7 - Send yourself an email with an idea or task that you do not want to forget by using your phone -- stay off your computer so you do not start checking emails but do not forget that idea or task.

8 - Set up your calendar for 2025 - do you have a paper calendar or online one?  Take the time to block the timeslots for your repeat meetings and other dates you already know.

9 - Work on organizing any receipts and finances you can when things are quiet.  Consider hiring a bookkeeper if you have too much to catch up on - they will catch you up and set you up for success going forwards.

10 - Invite great clients, referral sources and potential clients for an in-person coffee.  You can enjoy the chat, get to know them better and plant a seed about how you can help them or they can help you in 2025.

11 - Are you caught up?  Do you owe any clients or potential clients proposals or notes?  Use one block of time to get one more task off your list.

12 - Holiday time is for family.  Enjoy the time!

PS - sign up for the 100 day business challenge and start growing your business exponentially! Click here to sign up.

 

Cheryl Rankin

Fit For Business

fitforbusiness@rogers.com

www.fitforbusiness.ca

647-287-0320

Getting Your Message Out

Getting Your Message Out

Everyone is bombarded with incoming information and advertisements so how do you get your message through?

Marketing text books many years ago said that people need to see your advertisement 7 times before they decide to buy from you.  Definitely it is worth getting your message out to people multiple times so that they know you and remember you.

1 - consider sharing helpful tips which help prove you are an expert

2 - share often

3 - use multiple communication techniques

- in-person

- email

- social media posts

- pictures on social media

- videos on social media and your website

- presentations

4 - be memorable

- being helpful and not just being a pushy sales person helps create a positive image and in many cases a memorable one

- do you have a catchy slogan that people will remember?

- can you help your prospect before they hire you?  Consider inviting them to your business networking group as your free guest.  Consider liking, commenting or sharing one of their social media posts.

- excellent pictures or videos can leave a strong impression

- take the time to connect with people and not just give your sales pitch (have coffee with any prospects; have coffee with any possible referral sources)

5 - be consistent

- Stay focused on your business message and avoid sharing pictures of cute cats or dogs if your business does not involve cats or dogs.  

- Use the same words.  It is amazing when someone else can repeat your 1 minute business introduction and pass your message along.

Remember that a single post is not the magical solution.  Market in different ways and often.  Be sure to stay on topic so that you can be memorable.

Please reach out if you would like a complimentary chat to see how we can help your business.

Cheryl Rankin

www.fitforbusiness.ca

info@fitforbusiness.ca

647-287-0320

 Is your business stuck?

Sign up today for the 100 day business challenge.

You will receive an email each day with a challenge to review and improve one piece or your business.

Spend a half an hour each day on 100 pieces of your business and watch your business grow exponentially.  Marketing, sales and more topics to turn around and / or grow your business to the next level.

To Register and pay with a creditcard - click here

To register - please e-Transfer your registration fee to fitforbusiness@rogers.com

Cheryl Rankin

Fit For Business

fitforbusiness@rogers.com

647-287-0320

Networking For Business Prospects

Here are a few tips that will make your networking more successful.

1 - know your target market

2 - have a strong one minute business introduction

3 - your prospect may not be in the room but know that the people in the room have contacts that might be your perfect prospect

4 - keep track of who you networked with in case any of your contacts might need them

5 - figure out how to help at least one person in the room

#3 above is at the core of networking.  A room of 10 people who each have a contact list of 1,000 means that there are over 1,000 contacts that you are trying to connect to.  Leave a positive impression with everyone in the room.  They could connect you to your perfect prospect.

A consultant that I met many years ago, said he went to small business networking events for 3 months.  His target market was large businesses like McDonalds, Air Canada, and Home Depot.  After the 3 months he had connected to arrange 3 introduction meetings and got two clients.  His prospects were never at those small business networking meetings.

Cheryl Rankin

Fit For Business

647-287-0320

Gardening For Strategies

 Do you do any planning or thinking when you are in your garden?

After a crazy summer schedule, I found ragweed / golden rod weeds taking over my garden.  Well that is not good since I am allergic to ragweed! Not good at all!

I blocked time to get rid of the ragweed.  

step 1 - decision to pull out the ragweed and not just chop it off (Do the project correctly the first time and do not have to worry about having to redo it.)

step 2 - try pulling it out to no avail.....the roots are too strong 

step 3 - review the strategy - new strategy - water the ground and see if it makes it easier to pull the weed

step 4 - try again......some of the weeds came out with this new strategy

step 5 - review the strategy - new strategy - try digging down to break the roots before pulling them out

step 6 - wow - it worked - the rest of the weed came out

When working on a business project, try a strategy but evaluate the strategy before repeating it.

Did it work? Was it effective and efficient use of time, energy and tools?

Consider other strategies to reach your project goal.  Learn from my gardening experience that some of the best results come from changing strategies during a project.

Cheryl Rankin, Fit For Business

fitforbusiness@rogers.com / 647-287-0320