Business Day Thursday: Spring Is Almost Over, Have You Done Your Spring Cleaning Yet?

Good Morning Everybody,

First off don’t miss the announcement about my brand new FREE webcast coming up Wednesday, June 23, 2010.  It’s entitled, “Fast and Easy Album Design” [link].  It has been popping up on our request line for a few months and I was able to schedule it later this month.  And yes, it is NO charge to attend.  Read all about it below.

OK gang, are you ready for a brand new Business Day Thursday? Here we go…

Spring Is Almost Over, Have You Done Your Spring Cleaning Yet?

Yep, that's what I said - Spring Cleaning.  You know, "out with the old and in with the new." Of course I'm referring to your business.  Back in early January, I did a post about New Year's resolutions entitled,  "Happy New Year, Make It A Perfect 10."  Here is the link.  I discussed some great ideas you might bring to your business to really help make the profit picture a bit brighter for the new year.

I always wonder how many people take any action on these well intentioned words of advice. I know I can be a bit dilatory myself when it comes to putting my best intentions into practice. But, you know what – we really need to make those changes if we want to see our business grow.  I mean, why keep doing the same thing, voicing the same complaints, and expecting a different result all the time.

It just doesn't work that way. I just saw a quote the other day that went something like this, "Successful people use the time other people waste." I think there's a lot of truth in that. And, it behooves each of us to NOT waste the time but take the time and make the changes to our businesses that will make us successful.

Re-read my New Year's resolution post again right here.  Hopefully you were able to FINE TIME to put a few of those ideas into practice. Now back to Spring Cleaning.

Hit the "Read More..." link below to see my top 10 spring cleaning tips for your business.

Here are my top 10 Spring Cleaning Tips for your business.

1. Promise to give your web site a review.  Freshen it up with some sparkling new images, new text, maybe even a new layout.  Let your new internet visitors see that you've "changed up the furniture and painted the walls," figuratively, of course.

2. Promise yourself that your studio blog will have AT LEAST 2 fresh posts a week.  Make the posts about anything that encourages your potential clients see that you are actively engaged in your business and want them as a customer.  Keeping your blog fresh and LIVELY is a great way to keep them coming back.

3. Have you got your blog posting to your Facebook page every time you update your blog? It's easy to do, and saves you some time on Facebook.

4. Promise yourself to spend LESS personal time on Facebook and more professional time on your business.  Remember, more time on Facebook makes Mr. Zuckerberg (it's inventor) more successful and you, less so.

5. Take time to clean up and update your client database. Verify that addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers are accurate and up to date.  Be sure all your new and potential clients are included in the database. Remember,  a solid customer database is a wonderful and incredibly useful thing to have.

6. How are your sample images looking these days.  When was the last time you freshened them up? Time to hit the digital archives, find some favorites, get them printed and bring a breath of fresh air to your product presentations.

7. And how about those product offerings, when was the last time you gave them a good review and update?  Lexjet just began offering their new "Sunset Photo Metallic" line of papers.  Photo labs have been offering a similar product for the last few years, buts it pretty exciting to see it come to inkjet printers finally.  I can't wait to get my hands on some sample sheets to see what it looks like.  Sounds like my Studio can bring some brand new product offerings to our clients in the near future. My point is to take some time to freshen up your product line.

8. This is a great time of the year to begin going door to door and introducing yourself to the new wedding vendors in your community.  How can they find out what your about if they never meet you. Knocking on enough doors may just become the beginning of a long and lasting relationship with a few of them.  But---- you have to get knocking on the doors or become involved in your local PPA organizations.

9. Time to be thinking about that new summer portrait promotion. How about something like this - Portraits in the Park Family Day. Promote it to all your clients and encourage them to invite other families they know to your Portrait in the Park Day.

Make it fun for everyone offering free refreshments and snacks. Maybe even hire a balloon artist to be part of the fun for the younger family members that show up.  Be sure to promote the heck out of it.  It just may be a very profitable afternoon at the park.

10. And finally, if you happen to be a complainer, determine it's time to stop complaining and making excuses about the same old thing all the time and make plans to do something about it.  One of the best pieces of advice I ever heard over the years was that there were no excuses. When you remove "excuses" from the "lets get something done" equation, guess what, things start to happen.

Hey gang, don't get me wrong on the last point. I know it sounds kind of harsh, but it's not meant to come across that way.  It is one of the best lessons I've learned in life and learning and applying the " no excuse" lesson can make a BIG difference in what you can accomplish and what you can't for yourself and your business.

Time to get on with your Spring Cleaning!!!

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That's it for me today.  We've got a pretty big weekend with a large high school graduation tomorrow evening and then a big wedding on Sunday. I want to spend a little time getting everything queued up for the weekend, so how about I see everybody back here tomorrow for a long overdue Inspiration Friday.

See ya' then,  -David