Last Minute Ideas for Getting Business during Tax Season

Most dread the April 15^th deadline to file taxes. But you can turn it around and help your customers relax and making money too!

Have an “EZ” Discount – Use the tax form numbers as promo codes when ordering for example 1040EZ.  If you have a product you can price at $10.40 you can offer the special price good on April 15^th only.

“Enjoy Your Refund” Promotion – Have a special sale for your customers who filed their taxes early and are ready to spend the cash the got back.  Have a follow-up sale a few weeks later for the people who filed at the last-minute and won’t have their refund by April 15^th. Offer it to early birds too and get them spending twice.

Relieve the Stress of Paying the IRS –   Offer special coupons for a spa day, special dinner or box of chocolates. Encourage your customers to have a relaxing treat of their choice on April 15^th.  Send an email to your best customers to get them spending. Or even entice new prospects to your business.

15% off Discount – Make April 15^th a positive date not a bad one by offering 15% off purchases made.   Send out a quick email or post on your blog about the special discount only available until midnight on April 15^th and pick up some extra sales on a potentially slow business day.

Use these last minute ideas to bring in extra sales on Tax Day April 15^th.

Meanwhile enjoy this YouTube video of the Taxman by the Beatles while you come up with your own April 15^th Tax Day promotions:

Are You Risking a Marketing Short Circuit?

Are you doing the same thing over and over without the best results but it kinda works so you keep using it? Well here’s a story of what happened to me a week ago that I hope you can use.

I cook for the week on Sunday afternoons. My kitchen is tiny so space is at a premium. For weeks I’ve been moving my can opener and using it on the stove top because my slow cooker took up too much space. (I was too lazy to figure out a new spot for the slow cooker.) So I’m opening up some cans so I can prepare a stew and all is going well.

Then I remember oh, yeah let’s get the brown rice started because it takes longer to cook than white rice. So I turn the oven knob to on. A minute or so later I’m busy putting away dishes when I here a pop and see sparks coming from my can opener which is still sitting on the back burner. Yikes! I’m trying not to freak out as I quickly turn off the burner and lift the can opener up.

Now I smell a nasty electrical burn and I’m worried my smoke alarm is going to start shrieking. I look at my poor can opener which has the bottom melted on parts and the power cord is charred black and I’m thinking I’m not gonna be able to use this thing again it’s a goner. I toss my the thing in the trash and run to open the front door so the burning stink won’t stay in my place all day and night.

Back in the kitchen I try to turn on the overhead fan and light but nothing happens. I popped the circuit breaker! So now I have to figure out which switch to pull in the fuse box. Crum! I hate this stuff.

Oh yeah did I mention my kitchen wall outlets also stopped working? Well, I went to read the labels and pull the switch that I think connects to the kitchen outlets. Then I head back to the kitchen and switch on the fan and oven light. Nothing happens.

Back I go to peer into the fuse box while hoping I don’t have to call my property manager and tell him what stupid thing I did. This time I make sure both switches pull back and forth and hooray my outlets work! I can finish cooking and fortunately the rest of my cans have pull up tabs. But I added buy new can opener to my list of things to get done before cooking again.

Looking back I knew it wasn’t the best or safest place for my can opener but since I’d done it several times before I figured nothing bad will happen this time. Oh, Murphy’s Law is my life! Sunday was the day bad stuff happened! I could’ve caught my kitchen on fire and burned up my apartment. A friend told me I could’ve electrocuted myself! I hadn’t even thought about that but now an image of me with singed hair and smoke coming from my ears is running through my mind. WAAA!

To make sure I didn’t do that again I immediately moved my wretched slow cooker and made space for a new can opener.

Is it time to rethink your current marketing plan? Are you burning up your marketing dollars on a mildly effective marketing campaign that isn’t targeting your niche?

Do the safe thing for your business now and shift your marketing around so you can make the most of your customer niche and have growing sales not burning ashes of a failed marketing plan.

Have Towering Sales

The Eiffel Tower was completed on March 31, 1889. It was built for the Paris Exhibition and since its opening over 200 million people have visited it. Named after its architect, Alexandre Gustave the Eiffel Tower has come to symbolize Paris.

It’s been a few years but I remember the awe inspiring experience of sitting in the park with my travel pal eating dry Cheerios and sipping Coca Cola – hey we were hungry, it was affordable and portable.

You could have a Paris themed sale or marketing promotion. Miniature Eiffel Towers to catch the eye of passersby. I have a pair of Eiffel Tower earrings that are a good conversation piece whenever I wear them.

Apply Lake Effect to your Picture WaveMyPic.com

Make Your Clients Go Ape For Your Products!

King Kong premiered on March 2, 1933 at New York’s Radio City Music Hall and the RKO Roxy. For its time the special effects were noteworthy – having a 50 foot ape climbing the newly completed Empire State Building wowed audiences. In reality an 19 inch model off King Kong was used to film the scene.

Use bananas and monkey themes for your marketing. Get attention with a King Kong sized sale! Maybe have employees dress up in gorilla suits or have customers do a contest for best Kong costume. Maybe have the best Fae Wray scream contest. Will beauty kill your sales slump and woo your customers back?

Your Marketing Prescription!

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