608 - HOW TO AVOID AN INCOME DROP OVER THE HOLIDAYS

Welcome to the Next Level Life podcast with Christine Corcoran. This podcast is made for the powerhouse business women who are ready to ignite their fullest potential. This is where we will dive deep into the mindset breakthroughs and sprinkle in some kick up the butt motivation so you can scale your business with confidence and clarity. Whether you're craving more income, impact or inspiration, this podcast will be your ultimate resource for all things Next level. Listen in as we have authentic conversations with game changing female entrepreneurs as we reveal the secrets of what it takes to rise and thrive. So go ahead, ignite your inner fire and let's get you taking massive aligned action. Are you ready to elevate? Let's go. Hey. Hey. Welcome back to the podcast. So excited that you are here. Thanks for hitting download. Really appreciate you coming and spending this time with me and I hope that you find today's episode super valuable. I want to talk to you about how to avoid that income slump that sometimes happens over the Christmas break and what you do now will be the difference between having that slump or not having that slump. So I want to share with you what I'm doing in my business, but also what what you could be doing in your business in order to support yourself to ensure that you don't have that drop in your income over the Christmas period over the holidays. So firstly I want to share with you that we are currently receiving clients into the Unstoppable Sales program. So this is a blend of a mastermind, a program and one on one coaching to support you in creating unstoppable sales in your business. So if you find sales sleazy, icky or salesy, if you don't understand the sales process, if you feel like you wish that sales was easier within your business and you want to have a strategy in place to ensure that you're not leaving your income up to chance and you, you know, know where your next client is going to come from without freaking out, then definitely come and join us for Unstoppable Sales. This is a four month program and we start in November and go all the way through to the middle of March and we break over Christmas for three weeks. So if you are in earlier stages of entrepreneurship and you are wanting to really scale your business, grow your business to 10k months and you are currently sitting, you know, between 2k 5k 8k and you're really wanting to hit those 10k months, then this is definitely something that will serve you in doing that. And I would love to have a chat with you if this feels like the right. You feel free to send me a DM on Instagram or if you check out the link in the show notes, you'll find out all the details about the program. And we kick off really soon. So make sure that you jump in and check it out asap, because the doors will close a few days after this podcast episode goes live. All right, let's dive into today's episode. So no matter what type of business you have, Christmas is obviously can be impacted. So some businesses are super busy over Christmas, but most service based businesses do usually go quieter over the Christmas period. So there's a few different things that I would suggest you start to consider at the moment in order to support yourself to ensure that that doesn't happen over the Christmas break. So if you have retainer clients or existing clients, my first suggestion would be to start there. The first thing I would suggest you do is reach out to these existing or current clients and book a time to have a chat with them to determine what's going to be happening over the Christmas period. And I want you to be really proactive in this. So normally if your clients are someone that like comes to you. So maybe you're a va, a graphic designer, a website developer, like maybe there's areas of your business that you feel like, just wait for them to come to you with what they need help with. Then I want you to still be proactive with this because this is where a lot of business owners go wrong. They often leave it up to the client and this is where we are most likely losing sales. So what I would love for you to do is book a time to have a chat with them, discuss their plans for over Christmas in January, communicate what your holiday plans are and also really tap into what's going to be happening in the first quarter of their year, make sure that you drive the conversation and figure out what's going to be happening for the first quarter of their year and determine what they want, what outcomes they want, what are their goals that they have, what sort of things can you help them with? Because what you may discover, and I would hope that you would discover, that there's probably things that you need to be working on in November and December to ensure that they execute well on those goals and those outcomes for the first quarter. And often the thing is that business owners are so busy towards the end of the year, they're often like just looking towards the end to get a break and they're just like, oh, I just can't wait for my holidays. But they're really not thinking proactively enough, usually towards the beginning of the year. And a lot of the things you're most likely going to be helping them with is preparation for that. So I want you to think about, like, what could be on their to do list for the first quarter of the year and how can you start to set yourself up to make sure that you're still having full hours, you're still taking on more projects with them to ensure your November and December are busy or that your January is busy. Right. And this is going to obviously set you up for a really beginning, really great beginning of the new year, because we also don't want you to get to the new year, start back and then have no work or start back and trying to get in contact with the business owners that you work with. And they're on all on holidays or they're still kind of switched off for the break. And that then ends up being the end of January. Then school goes back, and then that's a really busy period. And then by the time people are actually ready to invest, it's the middle of Feb, middle, you know, beginning of March. So please don't leave it to then, because you're most likely going to miss out on a lot of work when really you need to be proactively thinking about what's going to be happening right now. All right. The next key pieces are really about what you can do to generate more sales and bring new clients in before the end of the year to set yourself up for a positive first quarter of 2025. So firstly, what we want to do is really start to shift our own mindset and our focus first. So if your mindset is saying no one buys at the end of the year, everyone's so busy, Black Friday's like, making it too much of a noise. I'm not gonna be able to stand out. Like, if your mindset is the first block that's preventing you from believing that people still spend money at this time of year, if not a lot of money. Know, November is usually one of my biggest months because people are getting towards the end of the year already planning for the new year, thinking, oh, my God, I really need to work on my mindset, really need to work on my sales, because it hasn't been the way that I wanted it to be this year. So really thinking about shifting your attention and first focusing on the belief systems that you that may be preventing you from being able to earn good money at this time of year. So it goes to Say as well with, you know, December, January, if you go into the headspace of, like, what, it was quiet last year, so it's going to be quiet this year. No, there were certain things that you did or did not do that created the quietness over the December, January period. So we really want to think about, like, how are we setting ourselves up for success throughout that time? And what you do now in October, November will make all the difference. Right? And so let's start with your communication, because you need to start shifting the narrative if you think that people aren't buying at this time. Firstly, you need to shift your mindset to believe that, yes, people are absolutely buying at this time and buying into your service is worthwhile again at this time. So you want to think about, like, your communication, firstly, you want to think about how you start to shift the narrative for your ideal customers to communicate to them why now is actually the perfect time to work with you. Like, when you really think about this time of year, why would it be the perfect time now? For some people, it will be the perfect time because they get a little bit quieter in their business. They have a bit more space in order to work on the key things or get things ready for you. Whatever it is that you do to help them, it could be the perfect time to be planning for the new year. Like, however you help your clients think about what's happening for them at this time of the year. And we want to think about it from a place of compassion and understanding and addressing, like, their concerns and their thoughts and the way that they are, you know, going about their day and. But we want to start to really shift that narrative because if in their minds, oh, everything's shutting down, I'm sure everyone else is also quietening off. Maybe, you know, these people aren't necessarily working with people. I'll just put it off to the new year. So if they're already thinking that you want to go, okay, what would they need to hear now in order for them to invest now? So why is now the best time to work with you? And what goals do they have in mind? What goals do they want to achieve for the first quarter? There's probably certain areas that you can help them with right now to support them in leveling up something within their business in order for them to start the new year strong. So whether you're helping them with their branding, whether you're helping them with their sales, whether you're helping them with their mindset, whether you're helping them with their health, like, whatever area of life or business you help them with. You really want to think about, like, how they're going to really benefit from actually working on it right now. Now the other side of it is actually looking at the cost of inaction. So if they don't do it now, what will it cost them? So you want to think about how you're like tapping into both with your content and how you're communicating that with your emails and communicating with people of like, okay, but if we did this now, imagine how you will start the new year. Imagine how you will feel going into the first quarter of your life or your business. So really starting to think about shifting that narrative and being the one that's driving the positive narrative. So then they're. You're not just giving into the mindset that they're having, right? Because there is absolutely people that are buying at this time of year that need your services at this time of year. And if you go quiet, then you'll absolutely have quiet results. But if you don't take the reins and start controlling the narrative, then you're just going to just get caught in the noise of just doing what everyone else is doing. And then your sales will absolutely drop. The other thing that would be really worthwhile considering. And this is always so good to do in September, October to really plan out your November. So whenever I've had quiet months over December, January, it's usually because I didn't do any type of sales system or campaign in the months of October, November. So it's usually because then I went quiet, right? So I want you to think about, like, what could you do that would pique someone's interest to work with you over this period of time? Because how can you create some noise? How can you cut through the noise and create something that basically shares an opportunity for people to put their hand up to say, hey, I'm interested in what it is that you're selling, right? So I could, you know, you want to think about doing this, like, what is happening for them in November, December, that would be really beneficial for them too, because it's got to be a win. Win, right? It's got to be a win where they're putting their hand up saying, I'm interested in what it is that you sell. But also, like, I want to put my hand up to say, I want to work on this and I want to benefit from this. So this could be anything from running a challenge, an online masterclass, it could be a workshop, it could be a Christmas event, like, really thinking about Something that really would work well for you to get in front of the right audience. And that way you have an opportunity to again, shift the narrative, control that narrative and actually guide them into working with you and overcoming any of those objections at this point in time. Because often the case is like, people are like thinking one way, but then if you shift their perspective, they can start to think a different way. So for instance, my unstoppable sales program starting in November is the perfect time to work on your sales. So then it sets you up for an incredible first quarter. Because if sales is a skill that you feel like you still haven't worked on and you still struggle with it, you find like you just wing your sales calls. You find like you don't really have a strategy when it comes to generating leads or converting followers and you're kind of just winging your business and you really want to step things up for the new year, then working on the skill now will honestly set you up for a massive first quarter. So spending that first sort of like four to five weeks before we break over Christmas to really dive into actually looking at building out your strategy, working on that mindset pace, working on the sales process, and then starting the brand new year with the support of a coach as well. Like, honestly, it's not just a learning thing, it's actually the support of a coach to be like, hey, have you considered doing this? Or really having someone to look at your business from the outside to be like, hey, this would be a really great sales system to put in place and this is the season to do it, right? So starting to think about what you can do in November to support yourself for a massive first quarter. For many years of my business, I found that November and December is a perfect time to upskill. Like, I've actually purchased programs in November for that purpose of like, I know I'm going to have some downtime over Christmas and I want to take the time to upskill to set myself up for massive the next year. But also so I've got the space, the creativity, the mindset and the spa in the. And the opportunity, the time, right? So I want you to really think about this for your ideal customer. Don't just get caught up in the noise. Don't just get caught up in what your friends are saying or what other business colleagues are saying about how quiet it is. Don't get caught in a scarcity conversation, right? Focus on the people that are ready to buy because I guarantee you there's people out there ready to buy from you and what you do now will absolutely set you up for the first quarter. So that then brings me to the first quarter. So this is why I'm always suggesting, like, plan well ahead in advance. So you're being really proactive in your business. So if you think about mapping out the first quarter of like, what are you going to sell, when are you going to sell it, how are you going to sell it, what are you going to do for that first quarter? What's happening for your ideal client, that first quarter? What will be the perfect time in order for you to get in front of those people and plan that out and then reverse engineer it and go, okay, what could I do in October, November that will allow me to attract the right clients so that when I go to sell that in the first quarter, I've already got a bunch of leads to be able to sell to. Right? One of the biggest things that stops a business owner from being successful is leads. There's not enough leads coming in. They don't have enough visibility happening in order for them to attract the right people. Having more leads solves so many problems within your business. So if you think about like October, November, December being lead generation quarter, that would be honestly something that's going to set you up massively for, for a powerful first quarter. So you really want to think about, like, what can I put out there? What's a lead magnet? I can start sharing? What's a way to get people onto my email list? What's something that people really want to be a part of? Can I run a challenge, a workshop, something like that that allows people to come into my world? And this is honestly one of the things that I teach inside Unstoppable sales is creating a lead magnet that's really juicy, that grabs people's attention. Because if you don't have people on your email list, you most likely trying to use social media to sell. And that's really hard. So, you know, there's a reason why successful people do these specific things within business. And it's, it's that common denominator fact, right? So it's like they all have lead magnets going out to people, they all have funnels working, they all have live events, live launching, like all the things that your business, the people that you look up to, look at what they're actually doing and when, what times of the year they're actually doing it. So people do launch, you know. Absolutely. In October, November. Right. You don't have to just get caught up in the noise. I want you to think about how can you utilize this next quarter as well as lead gen to set you up for a massive 2025. So I hope this episode has served you in so many ways. Love to hear from you. So make sure you send me a DM if you have any questions about this specifically for business and if all of this feels so overwhelming that you don't even know where to start that you know you need to work on your sales, get in. Unstoppable Sales. It is honestly such a great program and I'm not just saying that. Go look at all the testimonials on my page. I've developed this program as a blend of a mastermind, one on one coaching and the program because there's certain things you need to learn, there's certain things you need support with with regards to implementing and there's also having someone with my experience to come in and look at your business and go this is the way that I think is going to work and we can. I can support you in implementing it. So if you are ready to work with a coach to take your business to the next level, come and join us for Unstoppable Sales. The link is in the show notes and I hope you have an incredible week and remembering the doors are closing this week so make sure that you jump in as soon as possible. All right, lovely. Enjoy the rest of your day. Thank you for listening. And if you found any value out of this episode, make sure you hit the follow button so you get access to the episodes as soon as they are live. And make sure you come hang out with me on Instagram. You can find me at Christine Corcoran underscore or Coach. Have an incredible week.