Note To Readers

The City of Hamilton SBEC will be closed as of 4:30 p.m. on Friday, December 23rd and re-open on Tuesday, January 3rd at 8:30 a.m.

The SBEC team wishes you and your family all the best for a wonderful holiday and a most Happy New Year!

Smart Holiday Marketing To Rev Up Your Revenues

by Denise Corcoran

Why develop a marketing campaign just for the Thanksgiving to New Year period? It’s simple.

From now until January 1, the "buyer mentality" prevails. Buyers are ready to make purchases at any time, not just while shopping. Many businesses make as much as 50% of their revenues during this period.

Study these marketing strategies and adapt them to your business. Below are my top 5 strategies.

1. Products and Services for Every Budget

To maximize revenues, smart retailers develop gift ideas to fit every budget -- for example, Gifts Under $10, Under $50, Over $200, etc. How can you develop products or services to fit every budget in your business?

2. Holiday Packages

Holiday packages are the HOT sellers right now! Why? Because they take the "thinking" out of buying. For example, pre-package gifts of soaps, body lotion and bath salts. How can you take the "thinking" out of buying your goods or services? How can you "pre-package" multiple items to make it easy for your customers?

3. Bundled Products or Services

Rather than sell single items, offer "theme" combos. For example, a holiday "wellness" gift package, including a massage, a facial and health products. Or a "tax savings" combo, including a book, tax software and a one hour consultation. How can you bundle complementary products and services to create a "theme" offering?

4. Volume Discounts

Make your business the one-stop shop during the holidays and beyond.

Give customers an incentive to purchase multiple products and services.

For example, give 25% off for orders over $100, 30% off for orders over $200, etc. How can you capitalize on volume discounts to easily increase sales?

5. "Something of the Month" Club

Create customer loyalty and longevity with this winning strategy. The options are endless. For example, "CD of the month" club, "restaurant of the month" club, etc. These programs work best when you give significant discounts in exchange for a long-term buying commitment of your products or services. What creative ways can you adapt this strategy to your business?

Coach's Action Step:

Adapt, Take Action & Multiply Your Marketing Results

Pick one of the five strategies that most resonates with you. Each strategy is easy to implement just in time for the holidays. Announce your new combo packages, volume discount, etc. in your Christmas or New Year’s greetings, newsletter or any other holiday communications to your clients and prospects. REMEMBER: Make it easy and rewarding for customers to buy from you and they will reward you with holiday sales.

Denise Corcoran, a business and leadership coach and CEO of The Empowered Business(tm), has 31 years experience as a business coach, consultant, and former corporate executive. Subscribe to her monthly ezine, The Empowered Business(tm), at http://www.empoweredbusiness.com/Newsletter_signup.html.

Networking Strategies for the Holidays

by Ivan Misner

Holiday parties mean much more than free food and fun. They also can bring entrepreneurs a host of new opportunities to network and build relationships.

Most people think of networking only through the traditional venues, whether chamber of commerce events, business contact referral groups, or online sites such as LinkedIn. But holiday parties, including professional and industry social events where you can network with people outside your business, can be an even better time to introduce yourself to a new contact or share a friendly conversation with someone you already know.

To make the most of holiday party networking, here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Be prepared. Try to learn in advance the names of people you will likely chat with, their jobs and their recent accomplishments. You will need to do a little homework, perhaps a Google search and a look at their LinkedIn or Facebook pages. Use the information you glean to break the ice.
• Ask good questions. From the CEO to intern level, people love to talk about themselves. Here are some suggested conversation starters: How did you get started? What were some of the challenges with... ? Have you read any good books lately? My favorite is: How can I help you?
• Have a "teaser" topic ready. Approaching the end of the year, every business executive is thinking about how to increase profits and performance in the new year. Have an idea ready that describes the steps you'd take to improve your networking contact's business. Make this research part of the homework you do ahead of time. But don't give away the goose; save the details for a later conversation.
• Don't have more than a couple of drinks. It's a party, but you don't want to smell of liquor or be too relaxed when you approach people you want to connect with. Impressions count. Make the right one.
• Be confident of your value. Introducing yourself to an executive can be an intimidating experience, so give yourself a pep talk before the party. Make a list of your accomplishments over the past year and figure out how you might weave them into conversations. Once you've got that down, you should feel good about yourself.
• Use the introduction to segue to a future meeting. You don't want to end your chat at the party. The endgame here is to open the door for a follow-up meeting one-to-one. But remember that a party is a social gathering, so keep it natural and leave them intrigued.
• Honor the event. This is really important. Make sure that when networking at a holiday party -- or any nontraditional networking event for that matter -- you don't treat it like a business mixer. Show finesse. Yes, it is a great networking opportunity, but if you overtly sell, you may turn people off. After all, it is a holiday.

Ivan Misner is founder and Chairman of BNI, a professional business networking organization headquartered in Upland, Calif. He is also a New York Times bestselling author.