December – a month for festive parties, Christmas shopping, and trying to avoid falling ill just before the bank holidays!
For some of you, December may naturally quieten down as your customers book family holiday time, or if you work in a manufacturing industry that traditionally shuts up shop over Christmas and New Year.
However, a quiet month doesn’t have to mean an unproductive month, so here are our 5 top tips for keeping the momentum in your business this December – handy if you’ve been contemplating hibernation as the weather gets colder and the days get shorter!
1.) Take care of yourself – with winter bugs bombarding your immune system from every angle, it’s important to not overdo it, particularly at this time of year. Eating nutritious food (regularly – no skipping meals!) and making sure that you have time to wind down in the evening to help aid restful sleep can help you to feel better on a day-to-day basis. Also, if you do feel ill, actually acknowledging that fact and taking a few hours to recover is permitted – you are not a superhero, so please cut out the ‘Mr/Mrs Invincible’ act and get on that sofa/into that bed* (*delete as applicable)!
2.) Plan for 2023 – even if you are still busy at work, scheduling in time for a business review is an important thing to do. What worked in 2022? What didn’t work? How can you replicate what worked so that 2023 is jam packed full of success? December is the perfect time to set yourself realistic and attainable – yet still challenging – goals, and formulate a route map of how to achieve them. More networking? Check. Regular social media posts? Check. What’s on your list?
3.) Get your finances in order – whack on some Christmas music and make sure your business expense receipts are up to date. A quiet spell is a great time to review your business outgoings. Are you paying for software that you no longer use? Could you make use of the festive sales to purchase some software, hardware or office equipment that you will need in 2023? Now is the perfect time to browse the online retailers for the best deals whilst you’ve got a spare few hours.
4.) Touch base with your customers – A Christmas card can be a thoughtful way to say ‘thank you’ to customer for their support in 2022. An email too can be a handy follow up (or an environmentally friendly alternative if you’re trying to reduce paper waste), as it makes it easier for an existing or past customer to get in touch if your written contact prompts them to reach out about a task they could do with some assistance with, whether now or in the New Year.
5) Write like a VA possessed! – If you are trying to reach out to potential customers in your local area through Social Media or blogging (whether guest blogging or via on-page optimisation of blogs on your own website), to do this effectively, you need content! So why not spend a few days creating some ‘evergreen’ content (posts and blogs that can be published at any time of the year and are not aged by seasonal references or specific events) so that you’ve got a catalogue of posts to use when inspiration is nowhere to be found next year?
If your December is a little slower than usual, know that you are not alone, and that many businesses are experiencing the same thing. Don’t get too bogged down in worrying about ‘now’ – investing time and thought into preparing for next year can help you to start 2023 with vigour, enthusiasm and momentum. Good luck everyone!