Business Breakthroughs: Time to "Make the Doughnuts!"

​by Skip Cohen

​If you were born after 1981 you may not understand the tagline from an old Dunkin Donuts commercial. So, here's the thirty second clip thanks to YouTube!

If you don't already have your marketing plans set for fall and winter seasonality then it's "time to make the donuts!"

It might still feel like summer, but in most parts of the country, kids have already started back to school. The clock never slows down, and it's time for you to start ramping up for a terrific fourth quarter. However, continue to procrastinate with a mañana mentality and you'll miss the boat!
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• Time for a new family portrait! With the kids headed back to school, Mom's more aware than ever of how fast time flies, but you have to plant the seed for updating the kids' portraits!
• Halloween: It's an obvious time of year for portraiture, but you don't have to limit yourself to just the costume direction. It's fall and time for foliage, harvest themes, and pumpkin patches. It's also a time for apple-picking, and another opportunity for family portraiture.
• Thanksgiving: The theme is obvious, but here's where a story is easily told. Think about photographing clients as a journalist and telling the Thanksgiving story from the "production" side. I know in our home when I was a kid, my mother and grandmother would often make the Thanksgiving dinner together. Every family has their unique traditions, and capturing the story is perfect for a small album about the holiday.
• Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa are all holidays of celebration, with a focus on family. While Santa Claus gets top billing, that doesn't change the potential for you to capture the memories.
• YOUR Holiday Card: I've been writing about photographers using their own images in holiday cards for at least the last twenty years! It's the perfect marketing message to remind your target audience what you do for a living. It involves one of your images on the front of the card, a message on the inside, and on the back, just like Hallmark, is your business name, URL, and even a tagline for your business.
• Partnerships: Another topic I've exhausted over the years. The clock is ticking down, and opportunities for joint mailings, community event sponsorships, open houses, and cross-promotions with other businesses in your community are available. Now is the time to get together with two other companies and do something together. Two partners in a mailing reduces your cost by a factor of 3 - you'll be paying 1/3 the cost versus flying solo! Plus, each partner becomes an ambassador for the other companies involved.
• Thanking Your Support Vendors: From referrals to simply watching your back, each of you have a handful of people you need to thank this holiday season. Whether you're taking somebody to lunch, sending a gift basket flowers, or a bottle of wine, start making your list and planning ways to show your appreciation.

Here's my point today - the clock is ticking and there are only 4 1/2 months left to 2025! The time to turn a few of those ideas you have into reality is NOW! This is about achieving a strong finish for your business and increasing revenue this year.

And while I hate the expression, the words couldn't be more true...You snooze, you lose!

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