Why do business owners wait till winter? The freezing cold blasts from accounting, supply issues, and recruiting grief are piling up in drifts of hard icy snow. If it’s already winter, you should still call but it’s better to call in spring.

The trouble is, everything seems possible in spring so business owners don’t call. Summer is a solid time but businesses are distracted by perfect weather, steady growth, and icy adult beverages. Autumn is business busy with harvest and sometimes hunkering down for what comes next. Business owners should call then too.

Windchill is where the bragging rights come into play. -67F is how it feels, with windchill. That’s only -55C but it feels the same.

In fact -40F and -40C are exactly the same.
It’s a dry cold, which means you can dress for -40.

But the windchill is coming.

We all know the four seasons… And no I don’t mean the musical group…..

Spring summer winter and autumn. Not necessarily in that order, of course. I live four distinct seasons, which is not the year divided by four.

Winter is the longest.

November is my anniversary so that’s a fun month. And well, I love Christmas particularly because I have not always celebrated – so December gets a pass.

January is full of ideas and plans and packing decorations away so it’s not winter until about the second week.

And then winter settles in.

It’s dark. It’s cold. It’s icy. There are feet of snow to shovel. The wind blows it onto cars and sidewalks and into your eyes.

You just bundle up.

A remote start on your vehicle is ketchup on fries. Why wouldn’t you? An attached garage and underground parking are a dream. You question the sanity of your ancestors for settling anywhere close, and your own for staying….worse if you recently moved here.

You sit on your heat register or in front of a fireplace and wait.

March is a trickster, as is the first couple of weeks of April…you know it’s almost impossible, but wasn’t there a year spring came early?

Sure, snow in June is possible but mentioning it is tempting the gods. Spring finally waves but she doesn’t last long. Buds, pussy willows, and running water in the streets change to brilliant green lawns and urban forests. Clear skies and neighbors smiling. The school year bows her head towards summer and family road trips. Homeschoolers are done and public school families, complain about too many movies, field trips, and days being wasted.

Summer is a glorious queen with mosquito genocide on her mind and little ones upset about going to sleep when it is clearly still daytime.

Then, leaves change color, lakes are warm, the air has a minty coolness and most people head home to routine. It’s not even 7p but it feels like bedtime.

What season is your business in?

Marketing, advertising, and branding should be 52 weeks a year unless you are closed. True seasonal businesses are possible but rare. Not many actually shutter their doors. If you do, it’s hard to remind them you’ve been hibernating. Sleep is the great eraser…they forget who you are. We need to keep telling them.

Marketing is not Advertising. Branding is a bit of both. All three are the clothes you wear. And depending on the time of year, it might change. I promise you, I dress a lot differently for a January walk but I’m still wearing clothes in July.

When will your clients need you? How can your marketing – your 52-week marketing- ensure they think of you first when, finally, they need your product or service? There is no need to compete with the frantic Google gods who believe everyone waits until the Zero Moment of Truth to decide who to buy from, use, and support in your category.

This is the fun of marketing your business… not running a never-ending sale, not tricking someone into a must-be-now-now-now-now purchase – it’s letting them know that whenever they decide they need you, you will be there for them. Our customers have seasons too. Keep telling them they can trust you to be there no matter how cold their beautiful blue sky is.

So, let’s have fun. Fun growing your business. An uncovery and strategy meeting is the place to start.

That’s where we find your sword in the stone, what everyone needs to know. It only belongs to you. Not your industry. Your. Business. And only yours. Eliminate competition. We can worry about how to tell people After we know what to tell them.

A plan and a message to take windchill, hot sun, cooling nights, and budding possibilities and keep your business moving forward to embrace it all.

Your customers are waiting.

Let’s have some fun.

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