“What helps people, help business.”

— Leo Burnett

The key to a successful business often lies in the ability to adapt and stay relevant. One powerful way to do this is through seasonal marketing strategies for small businesses that align with local events and seasons. As business owners, we have to create timely offers that resonate with our community and take advantage of what’s already happening around us.

Why Season Marketing Matters

You don’t only follow trends with this marketing. You have to also create them with the particular season in mind. When done right, it can boost your brand’s visibility, drive sales, and build lasting customer relationships — even if it’s just seasonal sales.

If you’re lucky enough, those customers can also be your regular customers for your non-seasonal products or services.

1. Seasonal Excitement

People naturally get excited about certain times of the year — holidays, back-to-school season, or even the change of weather. Aligning your marketing efforts with these seasons can help create a sense of urgency and FOMO (fear of missing out) among customers, which can drive them to make purchases they might otherwise put off.

2. Increase Brand Awareness

Seasonal marketing provides a platform to make your brand more visible. With the influx of traffic during these peak times, your promotional efforts can reach a wider audience. Be it through festive ads, special promotions, or themed content, you can attract new customers who may not have noticed you otherwise.

3. Convert Leads to Customers

Potential customers who have been on the fence about your products might finally take the plunge during a seasonal promotion. Offering a limited-time discount or a special deal can be the nudge they need to buy. And once they’ve made that first purchase, they’re more likely to come back.

4. Boost Product Sales

Seasonal promotions can lead to a significant uptick in sales. Customers are often looking for deals during these times, and if you can offer what they want at a good price, they’re more likely to buy from you than from your competitors.

How to Create a Seasonal Marketing Campaign

• Understand Your Local Scene

Check our community boards, local event calendars, and social media pages that focus on your town or city. This isn’t just about the big festivals or fairs. You have to get a feel for smaller, more frequent events that people care about.

Are there local sports events, farmers’ markets, or neighborhood gatherings that you can tie your business to?

If you run a bakery and there’s an annual marathon in your town, why not create something special that is packed with energy-boosting ingredients?

Or if there’s a local music festival, consider something that attendees can grab on their way to the event.

To make this work, you have to understand your local branding for your community and the usual events that potential customers love participating in.

• Timing Is Everything

Since it’s seasonal, your promotions should always consider the timing—plan ahead and mark your calendar with important dates. But don’t just focus on the obvious ones like Christmas or Halloween.

Although you can still create promotions during these events, it’s also important to consider lesser-known events, like Earth Day, for example, local high school graduations, or quirky local traditions. These can be gold mines for unique promotions.

Take advantage of the changing seasons, too. In the spring, offer fresh, light menu items if you run a restaurant. In the winter, think of comfort foods and cozy drinks.

Doing this makes your promotion appealing and also shows that your business is in tune with what people are experiencing at that of the year.

• Offer Irresistible Discounts

People love a good deal, especially during peak season. Instead of just saying “$5% off” try “$10% off” instead — it’s a small tweak that can make a big difference in perception. Limited-time offers can also create a sense of urgency, encouraging customers to act fast.

• Use Social Media and SEO

Use it to announce your offers, share behind-the-scenes looks at your preparations, and engage with your audience. You can also create excitement by posting countdowns, sneak peeks, and exclusive deals for your followers.

Make sure your website and social media are optimized for search engines. Seasonal keywords can help you rank higher in search results, driving more traffic to your site. If there’s a local event, see if there’s an official hashtag and use it. Engage with posts from the event organizers and other participants to get noticed.

Meriflo our sister company, can help you easily manage and optimize these tasks so that you not only meet but exceed your marketing goals — seasonal or not.

• Utilize Multiple Channels

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Use a mix of digital marketing channels to reach your audience. Social media, email marketing, and your website should all play a part in your campaign. Each channel should have tailored content that fits the platform but carries the same overall message.

• Monitor and Adjust

Once your seasonal promotion is up and running., keep an eye on how it’s performing. Use analytics tools to track sales, website traffic, and social media engagement. If something isn’t working, don’t be afraid to tweak your strategy.

Maybe a certain product isn’t as popular as you thought, or a particular social media post didn’t get much engagement. Learn from these insights and adjust your approach accordingly.

The Final Words

Are you ready for successful seasonal marketing strategies for small businesses? Remember that it’s all about timing and relevance. The goal is to make the most of the natural excitement and urgency that comes with different seasons and turn them into opportunities for your business.

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I’ve been diving into side hustles for years and the Amazon Influencer Program is one of the best ones I’ve come across when it first started. So if you’re looking for a rewarding side hustle that taps into your online influence, this program might just be what you need.

If you’re like me and love sharing great products with others, this could be a fantastic way to turn that passion into cash. This program is also an excellent opportunity for those who already have a solid online presence and want to monetize their social media following.

As an Amazon Influencer....

you get to create a personalized storefront on Amazon. You can curate and showcase products you genuinely believe in and recommend them to your followers. 

When someone buys through your links, you earn a commission. This basically just turns your social media feed into a mini online shop — and you get paid for it!  

The Beauty of this Side Hustle...

is that it allows you to blend your personal interests with a profitable venture. When someone buys through your links, you earn a commission. 

Take me, for example. I’m always on the lookout for things that make life a bit better, whether it’s a fantastic Cuisinart coffee grinder that makes my mornings smoother or a Cool Mist Humidifier that’s been a game-changer for dry air in the house. These are the kinds of products I’d be recommending to friends anyway, so why not share them with a broader audience and earn something on the side? 

So, if you’re already talking about products you love or giving your two cents on the latest gadgets, why not get rewarded for it? It’s a way to monetize the influence you’ve built, without having to start from scratch. Plus, it’s a pretty flexible gig that you can fit around your current schedule.

Of course, starting as an Amazon Influencer requires some groundwork. You need to build a following and engage with your audience to make the most of the program. While it’s not an instant path to riches, it offers a practical way to earn money by doing what you love. Plus, it’s a flexible side hustle, so you can fit it into your existing schedule without too much hassle.

A Little Good News For You!

I’m currently working on a course to guide you through the ins and outs of becoming an Amazon Influencer. This course will provide all the details you need to get started and thrive in this program. Stay tuned for more information! 

In the meantime, if you’re intrigued by the idea of turning your online influence into a source of income, the Amazon Influencer Program is definitely worth considering. 

It’s a great side hustle that not only aligns with your passions but also offers the potential for financial growth. Keep an eye out for our upcoming course to help you navigate this exciting opportunity!

P.S. Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting me—it really means a lot! 

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“The future of SEO is here: understanding and marketing to specific and defined audiences through search engines.”

— Adam Audette

We live in a digital space where almost everything happens online. People are constantly on their phones or computers, searching for services, products, and information. Businesses, no matter how big or small, local or global, are no exception. Recent data shows that about 28% of a business’s activity is done online.

And that’s even not surprising. There are about 8.5 billion searches daily from billions of social media users. By next year, online shoppers are expected to grow to 285 million. The more the number grows, the more reason for businesses to keep learning.

This is a crucial time for your business to be easily found by your target audience. If your business isn’t showing up in those searches, you’re missing out big time.

The Power of SEO for Small Business

Search Engine Optimization is technical and complicated. But this is important to help make your website rank in search engines and be among the first list of results that appear when people search for things related to your product or services.

When someone searches for a “salon near me,” you want your business to be on their search result page. That way, it’ll be easier to find your business and connect with them.

Key Elements of SEO

1. Keywords

These are words and phrases people type into search engines. As I mentioned, when searching for “salon near me”, that is exactly a keyword for a business in that industry. Different niches require different target markets and thus, keywords to target.

Strategically using these keywords on your website and content can improve your chances of appearing in user’s search results.

2. On-Page SEO

This practice involves tweaking your content to make it more search-engine friendly. This includes:

• Title Tags: Ensure your titles are clear and include your main keywords.

• Meta Descriptions: Write compelling descriptions that encourage people to click.

• Headers: H1, H2, and H3 are used to structure content and avoid a wall of text.

• Alt Text for Images: Describe images using keywords to help search engines understand your content.

3. Off-Page SEO

This is about building your website’s authority through external means. This includes getting backlinks from reputable websites, which act like votes of confidence for your site. The more quality backlinks you have, the higher your site can rank.

4. Technical SEO

It focuses on your website’s backend which ensures it is easy for search engines to crawl and index. Key aspects include site speed and whether your website is mobile-friendly.

Local SEO

If you run a local business, local SEO is crucial. It optimizes your online presence to attract more business from relevant local searches. This also involves using local keywords, such as Best Salon in Canada or Online Business Courses Canada. It would also be helpful for local SEO if you could encourage satisfied customers to leave positive reviews on your site.

Consistency Across Social Media

Part of a strong online presence is having consistent social media handles. Use the same or similar names across platforms to make it easy for customers to find and recognize you.

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“Whatever you like to do, make it a hobby and whatever the world likes to do, make it a business.”

— Warren Buffett

Most of us have something greater within us. Something that starts from a hobby and turns into a passion. In the middle of it comes a sudden thought “What if I start my own business?”

Perhaps it’s not a sudden thought at all. Perhaps your friends and families recommended it after seeing the potential of what you do. It could be a simple crocheting you’ve been doing since you could remember. Or you’re a creative crafter with several cute designs created for family and friends.

There is always a certain demand for everything. No matter how big or small your business idea is, trust me, you already have a market. You just have to find them. And to do that, you have to start your business first! To better help you, here are the easy steps in turning your hobby into a business.

7 Easy Steps In Turning Your Hobby Into a Business

If this is your first time venturing into the business industry, it can be scary. If not your first time, it still is scary. It’s your passion after all. What if people don’t like your creation as much as people around you do?

But do not fret! The more it scares you, the more you should do it. In this guide, we’ll help you conquer that fear of turning your hobby into a business, and why you should start doing it now. Let’s start!

1. Ask Yourself: Am I ready?

Set aside the opinions of others and assess your skills on your own.

Are you skilled enough to turn it into a business?

Do you have the passion to sustain it in the long run?

When you do your hobby because it’s a hobby, you can stop when you get tired. You can simply set it aside and come back whenever you want.

It’s different once you enter the business world. You’ll invest more than just time and inspiration. You cannot walk away because there are significant resources invested, both tangible and intangible.

Think of turning your hobby into a business a commitment to yourself, your vision, and the customers you serve. To see the rewards of your hard work, you have to treat it with the dedication it deserves.

Do you think you’re ready for that? Through blood, sweat, and tears, are you confident to start this? Yes, it can sound daunting, but it is worth it!

That’s all you need: confidence, commitment, and hard work. Think about it for ten seconds and if you still want it, then continue with the next step.

2. Identify Your Hobby

What kind of hobby do you currently have? Is it something you do with your bare hands or digitally? Something you do inside the house or outside?

Doing so can help you determine the nature of your hobby. It will determine how to monetize it while considering the market potential, production requirements, and target audience.

3. Conduct Market Research

Whether it’s your first time starting a business or not, you should still start from the basic: market research. Your market is already out there. But before they know you, you should know them first.

You must:

• Define your target audience: demographics, interest, purchasing behavior

• Assess Competitors: strength, weakness, strategies, and their offerings

It’s important to identify what customers are currently looking for (or the trend). But remember the basics of economics (the higher the demand, the higher the supply). In order for your products or services to have an edge over the competition, they should be unique and valuable to your customers.

What sets your hobby apart from competitors?

What value do you offer that others don’t?

If your hobby is more into digital designs, look for something with less competition but higher demands. If your hobby involves cooking, research the popular food trends in your local area and add something unique to that recipe.

4. Develop a Business Plan

Not only will this make your planning more professional but a comprehensive business plan can also help sort out your future business. You can do it by yourself, backed by the result of your market research, or ask for professional guidance.

Your business plan should include sections of the following:

• Business concept

• Market analysis

• Marketing Strategy

• Operation Plan

• Financial Projections

5. Build Your Brand

If you’re new to sales and marketing, branding is one key to its success. This is where you finally will introduce your business to your target audience. You know who they are, what they like, and where to find them, so it’ll be easy to show them your offerings.

Develop a consistent brand identity across all touchpoints, including your website, packaging, social media profiles, and marketing materials.

If your hobby-turned-business is baking specialty cakes, emphasize creativity, quality ingredients, and/or personalized service. Your brand elements from colours to fonts, and imagery should reflect all those values.

6. Start Small

You have to start somewhere! Nothing gets big overnight.

Instead of diving headfirst into full-scale production or launching a store, why not start with a small-scale operation? Test the waters. This will minimize the risk and validate your business idea.

If you’re into photography, you could start by offering photography services for events like weddings or portraits on weekends. Both have been popular lately. You just have to find the right people and the right place to do it.

Once you gain confidence and understand how to better do it, you can gradually scale up and refine your offerings.

7. Always Love What You Do

Stepping out of our comfort zone is always a fun and scary thought. It’s the same thing with the mere idea of turning your hobby into a business. There will always be questions and uncertainty. No one knows what the future holds and you will never know how far you can get until you try to take that small step. Just always remember the easy steps in turning your hobby into a business as discussed above.

At the end of the day, what matters is your unrequited love for your passion. Whether it succeeds or not, your hobby will always remain yours. Keep hustling and continue loving what you do.

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Advertising and marketing your business can be an expensive process, which is why many business owners rely on word of mouth to promote their businesses. While this can be effective, it will take a while to build up your clientele with this approach. Keep reading and I’ll show you 6 ways that online marketing can grow your business.

Online marketing can deliver impressive results on a small budget if planned and performed effectively.

Consider these benefits of growing your business with online marketing:

1. Track your return on investment (ROI) accurately. Sometimes it can be difficult to track your return on investment using traditional marketing methods like print or billboard advertisements.

• With online marketing, you are able to track your ROI using tools such as Google Analytics, which can detail how much traffic and sales each of your online advertisements has generated.

2. Make quick sales and profits. It’s possible to see quick sales and profits using Pay-Per-Click (PPC) marketing. PPC marketing allows you to show specifically tailored ads to targeted customers by choosing specific keywords.

• Your ads will then be shown when anyone searches for that particular keyword on a chosen search engine, such as Google for example.
• While there is potential for quick profits, there is also a risk of heavy losses if you don’t set up the ads effectively. When you’re new to PPC advertising, it can be highly beneficial to seek the advice of an expert.

3. Promote your products and services for free. Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is more of a long-term approach, but if done correctly, your website can appear at the top of the search engines for free. This will ensure that many targeted prospects will see your website.

• While this approach can be free, it can be competitive, so many companies pay an expert to optimize their website to ensure that top spots are achieved. If your website does a good job of converting visitors to sales, even paying an expert to get that top spot can be well worth it.

4. Create a loyal customer base. Because your website never sleeps, you can be growing your business 24/7 with online marketing. There are millions of internet users that frequent the internet on a daily (and nightly) basis.

• If you can reach out to these people and deliver real-time feedback and interaction, you’ll be able to build brand reputation, recognition, customer loyalty, and new customers.
• As your customer base increases, so will your sales and profits.

5. Target multiple devices. Most people are now using their mobile phones to access the internet. However, this doesn’t mean that you should quit targeting desktop and tablet users. Online marketing will enable you to target multiple devices.

• When creating your website and ads, you have the option to choose who you are targeting and what they like. Targeting their devices effectively will help to bring higher conversion rates.

6. Make yourself a local company, globally. With online marketing, you can promote your business and services around the globe. It’s like the whole world is now in your backyard!

The internet is a powerful tool that offers almost endless opportunities for your business. With online marketing, you can build an audience, engage with your potential customers, make more sales, and enjoy greater profits. Online marketing can bring the bright future for your business that you dream of.

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