Taking Time Off During the Holidays

Sometimes I see moms hang ??Closed?? signs on their websites, but closing down shop during the holidays, or at other times, can mean a lot of missed sales and the potential loss of a lifetime customer.

As online business owners, we??re conducting business in a virtual 24/7 world. People expect things to run constantly and if an online business is shut down buyers will go elsewhere. Unlike many brick and mortar businesses, they have a choice and don??t need to wait for a site to re-open in order to get what they need.

Obviously, we can??t be in front of our computers from sun up to sun down every single day of the year. Not to mention, we deserve to have and enjoy time off every now and again, but how can we do that without closing?

Here are a few ideas to help keep business going and still afford to take time off for the holidays

1. Outsource
   Whether it??s customer service emails, hiring a student to mail packages or a writer to help write and post articles and blog posts, consider outsourcing tasks that will allow you to take a breather and keep business running as usual.
2. Use Your Autoresponder
   Plan your newsletters and promotions in advance. Write them and load them into your autoresponders so they go out on the dates and times you need them to.
3. Shopping Carts
   Be sure your shopping cart is set up and functioning properly. If you don??t have the buying process automated with a shopping cart yet??Get one and put it to work.
4. Create Digital Products
   Making your products immediately available to your customers after purchase is a great way to give them what they need without you having to be there to give it to them. If possible, create information products in your business.

Being able to conduct business even when we aren??t physically present is one of the biggest benefits of being an online business owner. Take advantage of that ability by planning ahead and automating as much as you can. Then you can fully enjoy your time off.

Find further tips, tools and ideas for marketing with the written word at www.Contentrix.com

Mr. Snow Man?? PLEASE visit me!

I mentioned that we used to live in the Pacific NW. It??s been about 4 years since we moved and I still miss it terribly. This time of year is especially bad because I absolutely loved the winters. We lived in the mountains where the kids sometimes trick or treated in snow and at times it accumulated into several feet. There were times when the roads would be shut down for days and the kids would ride snowmobiles up and down the streets. We??d be without electricity so we played games and told stories by candle light. We??d cook on the wood stove and spend the day outside making snow forts and having snowball fights. I know for many it may sound nuts to miss that kind of weather but it really was great living there.

To see the flip side of things, winters here in the south consist of a few snow flurries, lots of ice and bitter cold wind. To me, living in this kind of weather is crazy. Once you get cold, you can??t get warm?? even in the house! You can drive on snow pack but don??t dare go out on icy roads. Unless you get up at the crack of dawn, you might actually miss those few snow flurries. And worst of all, if we do get an inch of snow, the entire state shuts down!

Is it too much to ask for us to get a decent snow? I mean enough to make a real snowman and actually have him sit in the yard more than 2 hours without melting? The best we??ve been able to do so far is two small balls of snow, so every year we name him gutless frank or something like that since he??s missing his middle ball.

Ok, so that??s my whine for the month.

Does anyone else get homesick? Is there a particular time of year or an event that triggers it?

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