News
 8
Ways to Grow Your Business During a Summer Lull
By Alicia M Forest
Have things slowed down for your business now that
the warmer months are upon us and people are on
vacation or otherwise taking a break from their
usual routines? Don’t know what to do to keep
yourself busy? Alicia M. Forest shows you eight ways
to stay productive during your business’s downtime.
Use this downtime to focus on getting your business
ready to rock for the fall by implementing some of
the eight ideas below:
1. Evaluate your staffing needs.
If you haven't hired an assistant yet, whether
that's a virtual assistant, an in-person assistant,
or a combination of the two, now is a great time to
do so. Begin by creating your ideal profile of what
you want your assistant to look like, and then start
putting out feelers to your networks about exactly
what you're looking for in an assistant.
Once you've found the right person for you, the
summer months are a great time to train someone so
they are up to speed come the busier fall months.
If you already have help, take some time to evaluate
their performance. This includes taking a look not
just at your current assistant(s) but also any
outside vendors you work with, like your web
designer, your shopping cart system, your list
service, or your copywriter.
If you're finding their work to not be meeting your
needs and expectations, follow the same process as
you did for hiring an assistant. Start with creating
the ideal profile of who you're looking for and then
put that information out to your networks for
recommendations.
2. Increase your learning to increase your earning.
The summer is a great time to educate yourself on
whatever it is you need to know to take your
business to the next level. Choose a
business-building project, like building your list
or increasing your search engine rankings, and
invest some of your education budget into a program
or product that will help you learn what you need to
know. Then plan the time to actually learn and
implement the material, and you will reap the
benefits come the fall.
3. Make-over or create your ezine.
Take an objective look at your ezine, and ask a few
colleagues if they’d be willing to offer you some
feedback on it as well. Make any changes you think
might help it be more effective as a marketing and
sales tool.
If you haven't started your ezine yet, the summer is
a great time to put one together and start sending
it to your list regularly.
4. Clean out and organize your email.
Is your inbox an energy drain?
Mine was! But I was committed to having less than 50
emails in my inbox before leaving for vacation this
summer, which I managed by being ruthless with the
delete key and only leaving those emails in my inbox
that required action on my part.
Take a look at your inbox and either respond to,
file in the appropriate folder, delegate, or delete.
Once I did this, I felt the drain from hundreds of
emails just sitting in my inbox slipping away. Take
some time each day to delete old emails, reply to
ones that only require a quick response, and set the
'rules' feature to automatically sort future
incoming mail into appropriate folders.
5. Revamp your office.
This is something I'm going to do once I'm back at
my desk after our summer vacation. I love the
feeling of throwing out so many old files and
restocking my bookshelves so I can actually see what
I own! And by doing so, I'll be creating space for
more clients and more abundance to come into my
business!
But revamping your office doesn't just include
cleaning out and reorganizing your stuff. If you
also have tools that aren't working the way they
should, get them fixed so they do, or replace them.
So, if you're printer only works when it feels like
it, get it fixed or get a new one.
6. Clean up your computer.
Tired of wasting time searching for stuff on your
computer? Take some time this summer to clean up
your files, delete ones you don't need anymore,
reorganize what you do need into appropriate
folders, and remove old software that you no longer
use. Your hard drive will thank you!
7. Write down your accomplishments so far this year.
It's important to pause periodically and recognize
your successes. And now that we're more than halfway
through the year, take some time to write down and
savor your accomplishments so far. Then plan out
what you'd like to achieve for the rest of the year.
This will motivate and inspire you going forward.
8. Enjoy yourself!
Summer is a special time of year where people are
more laid back and life takes on a more leisurely
pace. Make sure you take some time to enjoy it.
After all, isn't freedom one of the reasons you went
into business for yourself in the first place?
---Source:
Alicia M Forest, MBA, Multiple Streams Queen & Coach
T, founder of ClientAbundance.com and creator of 21
Easy & Essential Steps to Online Success SystemT,
teaches professionals how to attract more clients,
create profit-making products and services, make
more sales, and ultimately live the life they desire
and deserve. For FREE tips on how to create
abundance in your business, visit http://www.ClientAbundance.com.
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