Making the Most of the Summer Slowdown

Summer has arrived, and while it often brings a much needed rest from the hectic first half of the year, it can often come with "slow" periods of business. Clients and prospects, coworkers and superiors, all of the folks we communicate with on a daily basis will be takings vacations throughout the summer. While this may mean a bit of a downturn from a sales perspective, it can be a great chance to get ahead for the busy times to come.

A few ideas for making the most of your downtime:

• Get back in touch with your "cold" leads. It may have been months since you last touched base, and they may be in a very different situation from when you spoke with them last.
• Organize, File, Sort - Both electronically and in the real world. Find a place for everything. Perhaps its time to try out a new system for staying organized. Check out LifeHacker or Web Worker Daily for some great tips.
• Get Smart -  You'd be amazed at how much easier it is to focus on improving or learning a new skill when things are quiet. Check out Lynda.com for some great online training courses, or even head to your local library (GASP) and check out a couple books on self improvement.
• Get Smarter - about your clients, and your product. The more you know about them, the better you'll be able to serve. Do a bit of research to find out what kind of chatter is happening online. Tools like addictomatic make it quick and easy.