Entry By Jason Brick
See all entries in this Series to catch up if you're joining us mid-season. This series is meant to help you use the slower pre-holiday weeks to ramp up for high performance from Black Friday to New Year's Day.
This week we start prepping for the first big holiday of Q3 and 4: Halloween. We'll riff off that enthusiasm and start launching two of our most important tools for success on the bigger holidays in the coming months. You'll spend your time on the following tasks:
- Halloween Hints Text Series
- Pass It On Week One
- Hiring Holiday Staff
If you're coming in late in the game, this is a week you can't afford to skip. You'll need to double-time it this week and next to make sure you're up to speed.
Halloween Hints Text Series
Three times this week, and three times next, broadcast an SMS message to your subscribers with a seasonal hint related to your business. Don't be salesy on this. Make it informational. Ideas include safety tips for family outings, news about local events, even reviews of movies coming to the local revival theaters. The idea is to get people looking forward to your text messages as a source of news and entertainment. Once you establish this thought, you'll get a much better response rate.
Pass It On Week One
This week, you leak the news about your big subscription drive for next week. Put the word out in social media, SMS messages and print flyers in your shop. Set up three to five tiers of prizes, each for bringing in a new person for your social media and SMS communities. You'll run the contest next week. This week, choose what the prizes and deals will be -- and let everybody know what to expect.
Hiring Holiday Staff
Not every business needs extr a help during the holiday season, but most do. Now is the time to interview and select that help. Do it earlier, and people will flake out on you. Wait much longer, and all the good help will be taken by other shops. Before advertising in general, reach out to former staff who left on good terms -- especially kids who went away for college or quit after summer work .
Let's hear some reports from the front. Who out there has success stories or tales of terror? Questions about how to make this work the best? Comment below to join the conversation!
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