Fourth Quarter Seasonality - Ready to Launch?

​by Skip Cohen

The start of the fourth quarter is right around the corner.  If nothing else, seeing school buses on the road again should remind every photographer that fall/holiday seasonality is about to take off.

From obvious holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Chanukah to events like homecoming, the changing seasons, holiday parties, and community fundraisers, opportunities are everywhere to build your business. But so many of you will watch the clock and the calendar with a mañana attitude--"No big deal, I've got plenty of time!"

Everyone should have their own check-off list, but here are seven ideas to make sure they're on your list, starting with the most basic!

1. What are you planning for the last quarter of the year?
2. Are there other vendors you can partner with to reduce costs?
3. Have you called your lab to look into new products you could offer?
4. How are you going to get the word out to your target audience?
5. Have you made a list of all the local events that typically happen in the Fall and into the December holidays?
6. What are you doing for your own holiday card this year? NO PHOTOGRAPHER SHOULD EVER SEND OUT A STORE-BOUGHT CARD! Use one of your own photographs.
7. Have you made a timeline of actions to promote your business? In other words - what's the timing of each step in the process, and what's the date for your goal to announce and launch whatever promotion you've designed?

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No one blog post can cover everything. I've got one goal today - to get more of you thinking about what you can do to create a solid finish for 2026. It's right around the corner, but there's still time to build some excitement in your community.

I hate the expression, but it's true. You snooze, and you lose.

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