It is the beginning of October. You should have all of your supplies ordered by this point as discussed in Holiday Planner Part 1 September. You should also have your marketing planned out on your calendar.
Holiday Art Business Planner Part 2 October
October is the month to be proactive. I will go over some things that you can do to save you time and headaches in the upcoming months.
Prepackage your artwork
By now you should have an inventory of all the art you wish to sell for the holidays. You also should have photos stored on your computer for marketing purposes. If you have not done this by now, take the time to get it done.
Once you have all of the photos in your computer, start packaging your artwork. Have them ready to ship. Label a sticky note on the box with the name of the art on it so you know what is inside.
Store them so you can easily read the sticky notes and you can grab them when needed.
When orders start rolling in you will be able to easily bring them to the post office or your shipping service.
You will not have to worry about putting a job aside during the busy holiday weeks because you have to package some orders. This will save you a lot of time and you can focus on other things that will make your holiday season more profitable.
You will also know at this point if you will need more shipping materials. Now is the time to figure that out.
Make an ordering deadline
You need to make an ordering deadline to guarantee arrival for the holidays. The shipping service that you offer will determine the cutoff date. I suggest adding a few days to the expected delivery date to make sure that the shipment arrives for the holidays. You do not want to upset a customer due to the shipping service. They will be upset with you, not the shipping service.
Now that you have the ordering deadline, start advertising that with what you have available for sale. You want people to start seeing what you have to offer. They might not buy it now but they will keep it in the back of their minds and when it should be ordered by.
When an item sells update your ad. You want people to know that your artwork is selling. You want them to order now.
Create
Now is the time for you to create as much as you can. In November and December, your time will be limited. Take advantage of your time now. You should have extra time now that you are organized.
When you complete a project take a photo and put it in your computer. Advertise your new art and explain the ordering cut-off date. When the art is ready to be packaged, pack it, label it and store it.
Blog and Website
If you have a blog, start blogging about what you have to offer for the Holidays. Go over all of the details including Holiday order by date.
Make sure that your website is up to date. You can add the “holiday order by”, on your home page so everyone sees it.
Summery
October is to get the last few things done for the rush. Have everything ready to ship if possible. Advertise, advertise and do some more advertising. Have your blog, website, and policies up to date. Have your order by date everywhere.
Extra thoughts, keep your bookwork up to date. Do this every day. It is easier to take 15 minutes each day rather than piling it up for a different day.
You might like this:
Package Your Art for the Holidays
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