Marketing During Busy December Tops the To-Do List

NOV. 30-DEC. 6

MARKETING Dawn Homa, Signarama Brighton (Brighton, CO), will map out her content calendar (social, email, blog) for the next 3-4 weeks. “Track what’s working (email subject lines, ad creatives, offer types) and be ready to shift budget or messaging,” she says.

DEC. 7-13

SALES Finalize year-end orders, advises Bobby Jordan, Fastsigns of White Marsh-Joppa (Joppa, MD). “Make sure all pending orders are confirmed and deadlines are clearly communicated to clients,” he details. Up the East Coast, broadening their reach into selling online to help offset the winter month lull is on the docket for John Wilson, Sign Craft (Niantic, CT). And in the Midwest, John Hipple, Sign Designs (Joplin, MO), will be promoting Section 179 sales, he reports.

DEC. 14-20

MARKETING, PART DEUX “December is when we bolster our marketing efforts,” says Ted DeWitt, Signarama Covina (Covina, CA). While he grants there’s “lots of noise out there with the holidays,” Jan. 1 is the date many new budgets start.

DEC. 21-28

VACATION That word says it all for Perry Yaremchuk, City of Kelowna (Kelowna, BC, Canada). Diagonally across the continent, “We actually enjoy taking time off during this month so we don’t ever do a push,” chips in Aaron Pedrick, Signature Dezigns (Apopka, FL).

PHOTO: ISTOCKPHOTO

DEC. 29-JAN. 3

EMPLOYEES According to studies, workers who glimpse a tree or two are both happier and more productive. In one analysis of a university building in Oregon, those on the greenery-facing side took 19% fewer sick days. It apparently has to do with how we evolved to function best in nature-rich settings. If no trees are in view, buy a few potted plants to put around the office and safe parts of the shop.