Esther
Good morning. And welcome to the Monday Morning Marketing Podcast I'm Esther
Melanie
and I'm Melanie.
Esther
And today we're talking about things to do before you go on holidays, whether or not you have somewhere exotic plan well, or whether you're just wanting to take a weekend away with your family or friends, you need to be organised in your business before you take a few days off. Top tips coming right now.
Melanie
Oh, no pressure.
Esther
It no, no pressure, I never put you under pressure.
Melanie
In fairness. It's all down to preparation and understanding your goals, our goal strategies, basically, and time management. So it's three fundamental areas that we need to take into account to be ready to go away on holiday. And we all deserve a break. The majority of people who listen to this podcast, we know for a fact our sole traders or very small businesses that may be a couple of members of staff and everybody needs a break. We all need a mental break after the last couple of years.
Esther
Yes, definitely.
Melanie
I would personally think. Okay, I'm going the way for two weeks. Let's say the worst case scenario, two weeks. No soul trader in their right mind we'd ever do in fairness. But let's say we are and we still need to get stuff ready. But there are apps and tools. Some of them are free. Some of them are paid for that you can schedule if you want, for up to three months and more, actually, but a lot of them can do happily three months. So I would think. Okay, what do I need to make sure it is done before I go away? So would it be images? Would it be website links? Would it be particular copy or text that you need to get ready before you go away? Because the last thing you want to do is wake up with a hangover after a Margarita night and decide what you're going to be putting up.
Esther
Yeah, exactly. And if you're going to be having an event or something special shortly after you come back, you're going to want to have the promotion for that going out while you're away so that you're not rushing at the last minute to get it all promoted and to get it all organised. And it there using social media platforms that have their own scheduling built into them or using a tool like we've mentioned it before. Guys, you know, we love it. We're not sponsored, but Agorapulse, then you can.
Melanie
Well, we are brand ambassadors.
Esther
Well, we are, we are
Melanie
we're brand ambassadors.
Esther
Okay. But not as the Monday Morning Marketing podcast. So.
Melanie
Okay, touche.
Esther
So, you know, so you could use these tools to get yourself scheduled and organised so that you're not stressing so that even do it for a few weeks after you come back so you can get caught up in all the other stuff that you missed, all your emails, all your posts. If you still get that organic stuff through you the door. You know, if anybody wants to send us a postcard, we really appreciate it. But there are other things that you can need to do as well. Things like your opening times. Facebook gives you the option to have your opening times on your page so you can set it that you are closed for the next week. And guess what, guys, the world is not going to end, but another place to also do it is Google my business.
Melanie
Yes, it even prompts you. Actually, once you've got a Google my business profile, it will sometimes ask you certainly around the British holidays. I've noticed. How are you open for certain days? Are you open for? Where does say Saint Patrick Holiday actually as well. And others it's popular recognised holidays. It will ask you put up your up to date opening times. It's quite nice prompt to have. There is one other thing you could also do, and I think a lot of business owners don't think to do it. You can schedule all your content to go out, but you can still take time off by asking a friend or a colleague to monitor your socials.
Esther
Yeah.
Melanie
For instance, if you're travelling, I don't think anybody is actually travelling, but if you're travelling to a different time zone, then it would be handy if somebody could monitor your social channels whilst you sleep. If somebody puts up a post and it goes up in error and it keeps on going up in error, it's actually happened to a friend of mine a couple of years ago and unfortunately she didn't have anybody to monitor her social channels part from tell her that this had happened. So there was nobody there who could step in and stop the post and okay, the business survived, is not the end of the world, but it didn't look good. So I was very fortunate. A few years back when I went to the States that I was able to ask my really good friend who also in the same industry as myself to monitor my pages whilst I was away. So while the post was there was just to make sure that if anybody spanned or do anything unpleasant, they could just be given the flick. And so there is no harm in asking your friends or family to do that for you just to give you a break. There really isn't and it can just be temporarily.
Esther
Yeah. Or you could hire somebody in for that time
Melanie
Yeah, a VA
Esther
Maybe for a bit longer, yeah a VA
Melanie
We've talked about VA's a lot, haven't we?
Esther
Yeah. Yeah. We have another thing you can do to let your audience know because your audience don't mind you going away on holiday or taking a brick. So set a pinned post or a pinned tweet so that it's there. Remember to take it down once you get back and you're back into the swing of things. Otherwise people will think that your permanently away. You can also set automated messenger messages to go out when people send a message to your page to say that you're away, but that you will reply as soon as possible. And obviously in your email set an automated out of office reply, so they're not expecting a reply instantly because you know in the damage that we live in, people do expect a reply, but if you're hiding out on a beach in with no internet, take us with you.
Melanie
That could actually be your opening cork. You don't even need to be that far away. Just if anybody wants to escape and not get any emails and what a Trabolgan works a treat. So it certainly was a few years ago. They probably up to the connectivity by now. Know my look, but it very much has to do with what you want to hear about as well. Okay, now I've got existing clients and I don't want them feeling that I'm gonna let them down even while I'm away. So you could also manage their expectations and say, look, I will respond, but I'm not always going to be in good WiFi. You know, you can tell them that all like we said before, you can ask for somebody to respond for. You can pay for someone we can ask friends and family if managing everybody's expectations, it's really important, even your clients don't mind. You taking some time off as long as it things are being handled
Esther
And you need it. Like we said, you definitely need don't be the hero. Don't try to be having a wonderful relaxing brick while also replying to 30,000 emails and so many social media engagements and things. Do you take the brick your brand needs that your body needs it, your business needs it.
Melanie
So we will need to recharge and you don't have to be a social media type person for this. If you're managing your social media, whatever type of business, whether it's a fruit stall or shoe shop or we all need to take that little mental health break and we can't encourage that enough. And we seem to be it
Esther
It's as I say. Not as I do, but I mean, obviously there could be times where you end up having to take a few days because you do get sick and you can't get two things. So have a backup plan, have somebody that you can contact and say if you see that nothing goes up for three days.
Melanie
Call the police!!
Esther
I'm being eaten by my cats. But that they can step in and run the page and run the you know, especially if you've got that you've got your online ecommerce and orders are coming in, but nobody is there to send stuff out, that without your audience knowing that could affect it. So definitely have somebody on stand by. But at the end of the day, what we want is for you to be able to switch off, be able to relax and know that things are going out that are scheduled. Things are going according to plan as much as possible so that you can switch off so that's our top tip for today guys. Any closing statements?
Melanie
I know, especially when you're starting up, you feel it's very difficult to actually go on a break, but you're actually doing yourself and your business a disservice. If you don't take the time to reload, even if it's maybe three or four days at a bed and breakfast, sometimes you just need a short break. Just refresh. This is us giving you permission to take a break.
Esther
And if you need us to help you with anything, just get in touch.
Melanie
Thanks for that, guys.
Esther
We'll be back next week with more on Monday morning marketing Bye Bye
Melanie
bye.
