Well, it’s October again and you all know what that means… That’s right, to you business people, its 4th quarter. To you non-business people, the holidays are right around the corner. That’s right folks. Halloween is at the end of this month, Thanksgiving is in less than two months and Christmas (and Hanukkah) is just another month after that. Black Friday is in 52 days, Hanukkah is in 66 days (starts on Friday December 11) and that all leaves 80 shopping days until Christmas!

But why am I telling you this now? Because NOW is the time to act! NOW is the time to market your products and your services. Some people start planning this stuff over the summer. Some companies start a full year before. But you are a common person that reads my weekly tip of the week. You might know about media planning and organization, but sometimes business and shopping just sort of creep up behind you. So I am giving you some free advice (like I do every week Start marketing your product today!

As the advertising adage goes, it takes at least 5-7 impressions before someone even realizes you are talking to them or selling your product or service to them. Meaning, that if you have a product to sell for the holidays, you need to get your message to them in whatever form you can 5-7 times over the next 2 months. That further means that each week you can run an advertisement in your local newspaper, set up a PPC (pay per click) program on Google, send out 5-7 newsletters (of course to an already opted in email list) or make 5-7 phone calls to each and every person you are trying to sell to.

Of course there is a VERY delicate balance between trying to sell or promote your product or service and spamming. And quite possibly having the complete opposite effect happen to you whereas your potential buyer/customer gets annoyed that you called him/her too much or your ad was in their face too much. (Though, I would be quite surprised to hear if anyone is really not buying GEICO insurance because the gecko spokesmascot is seen too much. Related of course is the fact that GEICO mixes it up with that “bundle of cash with the googly eyes” character and the lovably tormented cavemen. So if you have some humor, sometimes you can get away with overplaying your message.)

If you want to know more about marketing your products and services for the holidays and the upcoming new year, please give me a call at 212-993-5828, send me an email at raphis@salemglobal.com or visit our site, www.SalemGlobal.com. Next week we will talk about email marketing and setting up a newsletter so you can get started on having a great list for the holidays and the beginning of next year.