Summer Doldrums

Warm-weather months are a fun and busy time. It's time to cleanup
the barbie, plant your flowers, and maybe take a trip to the
beach. The cold weather is gone and the lazy, hazy days of
summer are upon us. It just seems that so many things have been
added to our plate, we have little time for anything else.

But wait! Does that include the business you have worked so hard
on during the winter? Unfortunately for some it does. It's like
the race car driver, who speeds around the track and gets a lead
of his competition, but then decides to coast the last few laps.
Guess what - he is going to be passed.

A lot of people virtually take the summer off from their online
business, and this is an opportunity for you. While they are
taking 2 steps back, you can leapfrog over them and get the
customers they might have gotten.

This is not a new phenomenon, and is as old as the web itself.
Online business typically slows down during the summer months.
But who is slowing down? It is usually those who work the web
part-time in the evening. Now when it gets dark early, this is
easy. But when the days are longer, it seems there just isn't
enough time to do everything else, and also take care of
business.

If you are serious about developing your online business, you
must have the discipline it takes to continue. It's awfully easy
to think you'll get it done tomorrow, but unfortunately, your
customers will not wait for you to get motivated.

Rose Hay sums it up
beautifully in her ads. She says "Remember, an Opportunity
Doesn't Go Away, It Just Goes To Someone Else." How true - here
is someone who has her act together, and will capitalize on the
inaction of others.

Now is the time to renew your marketing efforts. Can you combine
those lazy, hazy days with a renewed effort? If you can, the
lost opportunities of others might just come your way.

Might you slow down a bit? Sure, if you do it right, and
remember your short term and long term goals. Maybe you should
investigate advertising in publications you hadn't tried in the
past. You should consider running multiple ads with different
copy in the ones you are already using. How about using an
auto-responder in those ads. This will ensure you get back to an
inquiry right away, and you can do the follow-up at your leisure.

Why not put a form on your website(s) to handle inquiries?
Through the use of checkboxes, you can immediately categorize
your potential customers requests. By using a mail package such
as Eudora, you can automatically respond with a "canned"
response that is tailored to their request.

Will some of your prospects also be running at a slower speed?
Of course, and this is why you must redouble your efforts.

Don't forget that thousands upon thousands of new prospects get
web access every day. They are hungry for information, and might
just be looking for the type of opportunity you offer. These
"Internet Newbies" are like a fertile field that you can harvest
during the summer. Bitten by the prospect of earning money on
the Net, they are viable candidates that you will lose if you
don't vigorously pursue them.

I know that with press of things we have to do it is easy to
slack off. Much of your competition will succumb to those
"Summer Doldrums", and if you take advantage of their inactivity,
you just might be pleasantly surprised at the results.