Q4! Holidays, Yahoo! and ABC News, NY Yankees, Brett Favre, Seth Rogen Gets Married: What your business should be doing right now and what to learn from the big players
Posted by Salem Global on Oct 4, 2011
It is no secret that more sales are made during 4th quarter than most other quarters. The way business works, in retail and in wholesale, is that most consumers will spend more during the holiday season than all year long. People are not only in the giving mood or mode, they are also in the receiving mode. Most businesses work according to a fiscal year that starts January 1 and ends December 31. That means that Christmas bonuses are on their way and it also means that more money gets spent on consumer items. But businesses (and non-profit organizations also), are also caught up in this frenzy and thats why all businesses and professionals should be ramping up their online efforts right now. Year after year I tell my readers, clients and potential clients that now is precisely the time to not just be going online, but also marketing online. For some industries it is again really too late for long term growth and they can only focus on short term. These strategies include pay per click advertising and interactive PR.
Since its the beginning of October, you have to logically think that people will start their holiday shopping this month. Halloween and the onset of the colder climate is a wake up call for people to at least start planning their Christmas shopping.. What do you think Timmy will want for Christmas this year honey? What would be an appropriate gift for my little princesses this year? Last year you got them a Wii, a cellphone and a new car. So do you purchase brand new this year or do you purchase the updated version? Certainly iPads and iPods and iPhones will be and should be well stocked. I predict Apple will have had a BOOM year. And with the iPad2 you will have millions of people lining up in the streets to get theirs. Certainly this falls under the category of “updated gift” vs. “new gift.”
From my perspective, (that of an online marketing professional), I can see that the economy has improved. I know people and companies are bringing in more money and I know they are seeking to spend it. Now is the time that businesses will also invest in their own companies. Certainly new computers, technology upgrades and services will be purchased. With all of the excess that people didn’t think about in these years budgets, I predict that some of that money will go towards employees bonuses.
Of course I am an optimist and think that the world is going to be a better place in 2012. Technology is one indicator, but takes a look at peoples vacation schedules as well. Travel will be up in 2012 but it will start in the 4th quarter. More people will be taking Christmas and new years holidays this year than the past few years. And then when Winter and Spring Break roll around, people will be flying to all sorts of destinations. I think Priceline.com and competing travel sites will make major bucks this and next year.
And then there is real estate. I agree with all of the real estate geniuses that tell you the best time to buy real estate is in a down economy. So home and apartment sales will be up soon enough. Sure we all think we are in a recession because people are out of work and money is tight. But after that cork is released we are going to see big things happen.
Another example of Q4 getting better for some companies is this announcement of Yahoo! and ABC News partnering to bring more content to more households than ever before. http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9Q50DFO2.htm This is a complete win-win situation for Yahoo! which has been losing market share to Google since day one as well as facebook with its social networking empire growing daily. As for ABC News, they were just lucky. Yahoo! could have gone with anyone. Why they went with ABC is beyond me. I assume its because they were offering the most money…
I haven’t talked about sports in a while so let me just say GO Yankees! I understand they are the all-time favorite with 27 World Series to their name. But it seems like the Detroit Tigers are also playing pretty hard since they are tied at 1-1 in the ALDS. Also in sports, Brett Favre has a new job providing color commentary for Ole-Miss (Did I get that right?) Seems like he is also nervous having been used to playing instead of commentating all these years. http://www.lostlettermen.com/10-3-2011-brett-favre-broadcasting-debut-southern-miss/
Finally, in relatively no interest to most of you, Seth Rogen got married recently to longtime girlfriend Lauren Miller. http://www.ontheredcarpet.com/Seth-Rogen-weds-girlfriend-Lauren-Miller/8376757 What I love about this guy, (besides the fact that he is indeed funny), is that he engenders exactly what everyone says about the whole Judd Apatow fat ugly stupid guy gets hot beautiful girl. It just goes to show you that communicators, artists and writers can indeed compete with Jocks, Preppies and guys with money. I guess there is some justice in the world…
So what can your business learn from the above? Well, you might want to GET STARTED on your fourth quarter marketing already!!!!!! What the hell are you waiting for? Why haven’t you called me yet? You know you need help and yet you still just think about it and think about it. Well as the saying goes, “you miss 100% of the shots you never take!” If you don’t invest in your website or online presence, no one is going to call you. No one will email you. No one will purchase from you online. Sure people will call. Sure you will get some word of mouth advertising from family friends and colleagues. But the whole goal of business is to increase your profit by more this quarter and this year than last. Online is the final frontier so get with it. Small companies are competing with larger ones because they recognize that the Internet levels the playing field. If you need more advice, just email and call. We will figure out a budget and a strategy that will be a win-win for both of us. Want to know more about Yahoo! ABC News, the Yankees, Brett Favre or website marketing???? Call Raphi Salem at 212-222-3292 or email him at info@salemglobal.com today!
