Whether it’s Black Friday, Christmas gifts, or simply clients wanting to wrap up their projects before the holidays, the end of year is great for product sales, and a great time to drive new business.  It can also be a time of frantic emails, tight deadlines and a few too many late nights.

But it doesn’t need to be! The secret to a smoother, more successful holiday season is to START NOW.

Here are five things you can do right now to save on hours and stress later.

1. Order your samples early

Decide what products you're going to offer and order samples, so you’ve got time to:

• Photograph and video them for your product pages and social media posts
• Style them seasonally (if relevant)
• Use them in your marketing campaign! (see #4)

2. Establish a timeline

This is the biggie. Everyone has a deadline for the holidays, so start from there and work backwards:

• When will your clients need the product (e.g. a week before Christmas).
• What are QBY’s Christmas order deadlines (on our website).
• Do you need an earlier cut-off — e.g. to avoid the rush, or to allow for orders to be shipped to you first?
• Do you need extra time to prep files, get client sign-off etc?
• Or will clients be using our Workspace shopping cart?

• So — what’s the last day you can accept orders? 
• On what date will you launch your promotion?
• Will you “tease” your promotion earlier?
• And when will you need your marketing resources ready (#3 and #4) 

3. Decide on your offer

All the details you’ll need to accept orders and get paid:

• The product
• Sizes
• Any options?
• Prices
• Deals (e.g. early bird discounts)
• Deadlines 

Publish your deadlines everywhere — on your website, in emails, on Instagram and repeat them often!

4. Plan your marketing campaign

Keep it simple, be creative, be yourself — but plan it early.

• Itemise the content: landing page with your offer, pre-launch teasers, the launch, follow-up, reminders, last  orders, FAQs etc
• Any design input required: web pages, email and social media templates, price lists, order forms
• Photo and video needed: product shots, un-boxing, behind-the-scenes content etc
• Write the text required: this helps clarify your marketing message too.
• Incorporate Queensberry Galleries and Print Shop for easy client ordering.

You may not need to do everything right now, but you do need to plan!

5. Get your back-up offers ready

There will always be clients who reach out after your cut-off dates, with their fingers crossed:

• Maybe you’ve built in some extra time, so it’s not a problem.
• Queensberry can often accept orders after our deadlines — no guarantees though.
• Include a “last-minute gift” option — e.g. we have later deadlines for loose, unframed prints.
• Last but not least — design a gift certificate for redemption in the new year.

Always reach out to us — we’ll do our best to help you make it happen.

6. (Bonus) Remind yourself why you’re doing this!

• The work you’re doing now is an investment in your future.
• This year’s plan is a blueprint for next year.
• Remember the four unromantic reasons for selling products.