Title: 4 Strategies For Seasonal Selling - Planning For Retail Cycles Word Count: 393 Summary: Every product has a natural life cycle and a season where it sells best: some early buyers come at the beginning, and then the mass of buyers come. Prices peak and retailers begin running out of stock. Sales slow, and trickle down to a few last-minute shoppers. As an online seller, it’s critical you prepare for the natural retail cycles throughout the year. With some simple strategies, you can make the most of the opportunities presented by the changing seasons: 1.Keep ... Keywords: Product,sourcing,ebay,ecommerce,dropship,ebiz,entrepreneur,blog Article Body: Every product has a natural life cycle and a season where it sells best: some early buyers come at the beginning, and then the mass of buyers come. Prices peak and retailers begin running out of stock. Sales slow, and trickle down to a few last-minute shoppers. As an online seller, it’s critical you prepare for the natural retail cycles throughout the year. With some simple strategies, you can make the most of the opportunities presented by the changing seasons: 1.Keep the Flow Going The way to maintain sales volume is to be ready for the next selling season. Phase in your new seasonal items for early shoppers while your other product line sales are winding down. You can keep the momentum going in your store and your income if you plan accordingly. 2.Make Advance Preparations Don’t wait until the holiday is upon you to get your products lined up and ready to go. You should begin pushing your promotions two to three months ahead of time, according to Lisa Suttora of http://WhatDoISell.com. Says Suttora, “The advantage to having your products ready several months before a holiday season is you capture the early bird buyers…You’d be amazed how many people shop months in advance of a holiday.” Another benefit of early marketing is it provides lead time for the search engines to pick up the pages for your holiday specials. Include the season or holiday name in your titles, because people are searching for those terms. 3.Use What You’ve Got You don’t necessarily have to change your entire product line every season. Evaluate your current product line and see what can be promoted as a seasonal item. Use your imagination—create unique gift baskets and kits. Shoppers are pressed for time and are looking for solutions, so put together product bundles to solve their holiday needs. 4.Adjust Your Website Your web store should reflect the season—feature items that work well for the approaching holiday. Put a seasonal spin on your ads and listings. “Your sales don’t have to drop,” advises Suttora. “Evaluate what you’re selling and how you want to position it—freshen up the look of your site. You’ve got a whole new group of buyers coming in [with each new season], so you want to be ready for them.”

Every product has a natural life cycle and a season where it sells best: some early buyers come at the beginning, and then the mass of buyers come. Prices peak and retailers begin running out of stock. Sales slow, and trickle down to a few last-minute shoppers.

As an online seller, it’s critical you prepare for the natural retail cycles throughout the year. With some simple strategies, you can make the most of the opportunities presented by the changing seasons:

1.Keep the Flow Going
The way to maintain sales volume is to be ready for the next selling season. Phase in your new seasonal items for early shoppers while your other product line sales are winding down. You can keep the momentum going in your store and your income if you plan accordingly.

2.Make Advance Preparations
Don’t wait until the holiday is upon you to get your products lined up and ready to go. You should begin pushing your promotions two to three months ahead of time, according to Lisa Suttora of http://WhatDoISell.com. Says Suttora, “The advantage to having your products ready several months before a holiday season is you capture the early bird buyers…You’d be amazed how many people shop months in advance of a holiday.”

Another benefit of early marketing is it provides lead time for the search engines to pick up the pages for your holiday specials. Include the season or holiday name in your titles, because people are searching for those terms.

3.Use What You’ve Got
You don’t necessarily have to change your entire product line every season. Evaluate your current product line and see what can be promoted as a seasonal item. Use your imagination—create unique gift baskets and kits. Shoppers are pressed for time and are looking for solutions, so put together product bundles to solve their holiday needs.

4.Adjust Your Website
Your web store should reflect the season—feature items that work well for the approaching holiday. Put a seasonal spin on your ads and listings. “Your sales don’t have to drop,” advises Suttora. “Evaluate what you’re selling and how you want to position it—freshen up the look of your site. You’ve got a whole new group of buyers coming in [with each new season], so you want to be ready for them.”

5 Print Ad Essentials!

Writing an effective print ad, particularly a classified advertisement, requires that you remember five essential points. Failure to implement these points correctly can cost you much in the way of time lost and a sale missed.

You've just cleaned out the attic and straightened up the garage. You've identified items you no longer need, but they certainly have a cash value to them. You could really use the money, but you don't want to post the information on eBay. What to do? You create a classified ad!

Unlike in times past, the classified advertisement you run with your local paper will more than likely have exposure beyond the printed copy. Smart newspaper publishers, knowing the inroads that the internet has had on their businesses, now allow advertisers to have a copy of their advertisement appear online. This is important as newspaper readership is dropping rapidly as internet usage continues to climb sharply. Still, a printed copy is smart especially if the classified ad section of your local paper is popular.

When designing your ad, you need to come up with an eye grabbing title. The title you choose will help the reader decide whether they want to read more or continue scanning their eyes toward other ads.

List the item you are offering for sale predominately within the name of the title. If you have several items to sell, consider a catchy title such as, "30 Year Contents of Attic" which will indicate to readers that you probably have antiques. If you state, "Assorted Sporting Goods" you will attract people who are looking for a bowling ball, fishing equipment, children's toys, etc. The key is attracting the reader and encouraging them to read your ad.

Beyond the title, the following five points will help you in your campaign:

<b>1. Be descriptive</b> The clearer you present what you have to offer for sale, the better your responses will be.

<b>2. Do not abbreviate</b> Not everyone understands what an abbreviation means. Spell it out and erase all doubt!

<b>3. Specify the price</b> Particularly if you are selling just one item, list the amount you want for that item.

<b>4. Highlights</b> I like ads that stand out. If the newspaper offers decorative symbols, characters, or fonts use them to draw the reader's eyes to your listing.

<b>5. Ad campaign</b> One day listings only work for popular items. Do you believe your item will sell if you list it for just one day? If you list it longer, you can always cancel the ad. Remember to find out what the newspaper's policy is about online ads too. Your buyer may only see the ad online.

Some newspapers will design the ad for you, if you find writing ad copy to be a difficult task. Not everyone is gifted in writing clear, concise copy. If they want your business, they should be happy to provide this service.