Getting ready for the Christmas quiet time

There are good parts and bad parts about the arrival of Christmas. Holiday tunes, good cheer, festive food and a few weeks break are all firmly in the “good” column.

But watching your bank balance dwindle, pretending to love your mother-in-law’s present and suffering from the kind of end-of-year anxiety that only boss ladies get? Eh. Bad column.

‘Cos, of course, it just so happens that the graphic designer ‘quiet period’ occurs at the most expensive time of year.

#alltheanxiety

But there ARE ways to make the quiet period an enjoyable and productive time of year for you. All it takes is a little preparation.

Here’s how.

KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT  

Receiving a surprise pressie in the mail? Awesome.
Realising that you have zero cash to pay your Christmas bills with? Not so awesome.

Which is why I’m all for forecasting, baby! Which is a fancy word for saying you gotta predict what’s gonna happen. And the best way to do so? Review your numbers for last December.

How much money did you bring in?
When did the work start dropping off?
When did the work start coming back?

Digging into these details will give you an idea of how many weeks you need to start stockpiling for. Speaking of which …

GET PREPARED

Start putting your cashola away. YEP – just like a squirrel with her nuts and a bear preparing for winter, you need to put a set number away each week. Even if it’s just $10-$20, it all adds up. If you can, start buying some Christmas goodies now while you are flush. And when all else fails, hello Afterpay, you sexy beast.

GET YOUR FREE MONEY

Okay, so finding a money tree or winning the lottery would be awesome. But … it’s also pretty damn unlikely. You wanna know what IS kinda like free money though? Automated passive income, BOOYAH!

Think, pre-made logos, an e-book and even an educational video series. All of these can help generate small amounts of consistent cash that help the quiet times feel, well, not so quiet. And remember: It all adds up!

BE PRODUCTIVE

Sure, being quiet in your business at Christmas can be a bit stressful, but when was the last time you actually had time to work IN your business? This is an awesome time to lay down some solid foundations for the year ahead. You can use this time for your own brand refresh and kickstart the new year with the branding of your dreams.

And, lady, I’ve got just the thing.

You. Me. Brand rehab.

It’s brand AA (authenticity and alignment) for your business, giving you everything you need to recover from bad branding and become a force to be reckoned with.