#46 - How to Stay Connected & Share Your Offers Over Thanksgiving Week

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Do you feel uncomfortable talking about your business or sharing your offers over the Thanksgiving holiday week? 

Do you think only more established brands and companies are allowed to dominate the online shopping sprees and you just need to sit back and wait it out while everyone else makes a killing on cybersales? 

In general, Holidays can feel overwhelming for a small business owner, and this particular holiday season may be more challenging than ever for some of us, but - it's also a powerful time to connect with your audience in meaningful ways. 

If you feel like just need to step back and wait for the holiday to pass before you can share about your business again, today’s episode is for you

We’re going to talk about how to navigate the Thanksgiving holiday with grace and intention while staying consistent in your marketing and sales efforts.

You'll learn five mindset-driven tips to help you stay active, confident, and authentic in your communication, without adding more stress to your plate.

Grab a cup of coffee, settle in, and let’s talk about how you can lean into gratitude, simplicity, and storytelling to keep your marketing thriving this Thanksgiving. 

Mindset to Market is a Luminous Creative Production. If you'd like to learn more about our business coaching program and group coaching container, please visit us online at DeborahcSmith.com.

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Transcript

 Do you feel like it's against the rules to sell your offers or continue marketing your business over the holidays?  Do you believe that only more established brands and big box companies are allowed to dominate the holiday shopping spree and the online scene and you, you just gotta sit back and wait and coast because all your clients are on break and they don't want to hear from you this week. 

If that's you, listen, I get it. In general, holidays feel pretty overwhelming and this particular holiday season might be more challenging than, than most for some people, but this is also a really powerful time to connect with your audience in a meaningful way.  So if you feel like you just need to step back and wait for the holiday to pass before you can share about your business again, then today's episode is for you because we're going to talk about how to navigate the Thanksgiving holiday with grace.

with intention, how to stay consistent in your marketing and your sales efforts, but in a way that is in alignment with those intentions. So I'm going to share five mindset driven tips to help you stay active, confident and authentic in your communication over the course of this week without adding more stress to your plate and feeling like you need to be a part of the whole chaotic, you know, sales process.

Spree that's happening. So grab a cup of coffee or lace up your sneakers and let's talk about how you can lean into gratitude, simplicity, and storytelling to keep your marketing thriving this Thanksgiving  Hey there Welcome to the mindset to market podcast your go to place for practical tools and solutions for the everyday challenges of being a creative and spiritual Solopreneur living in a material world.

I'm your host Deborah Smith. I'm a holistic business coach with 17 years of experience, and I help my clients bust through mindset blocks and build a daily practice that prioritizes your business's financial growth, as well as your personal health and wellness.  I'm here to offer you support, creativity, mindset, practical, how to's and getting into imperfect, messy actions.

So you can find balance while building the dream. If you're a purpose driven solopreneur who's working on that dream one day at a time, then you're in the right place. Let's dive in. Hey guys, welcome back to the show. It's Mindset to Market and it's Mindset Monday and I'm going to dive right into the topic this morning.

So no messing around. It's the Monday. of Thanksgiving week here in America. So we need to talk about this thing where suddenly every channel, um, every possible airwave is dominated by,  you know, just Big box companies, Black Friday sales, this kind of sale, that kind of sale, and, and all these little small business owners just sort of sink back into the wallpaper and kind of wait it out.

Um, and I get that completely because I've done it. I've, I've often, in fact, almost always felt that way when I was running a juice bar even and I had a physical product to sell. Like I never felt like the big holiday sales and shopping sprees were for me. Um, and to be totally transparent, I think I associate it with Just a lot of greed.

And this moment where capitalism just sort of plows over the holiday time, which is supposed to be about connection, time with family, you know, remembrance, ancestors, history, the storytelling of our families, being grateful for what we have, being giving and generous. So  I think traditionally I didn't want to be associated, like, or my business and my brand to be associated with like waste and just, you know, all the kind of, this, this  spending, spending, spending.

Um, and I always took a back seat, but I also had this like kind of  you know,  annoyed feeling around that because I was like, but I sell a service that helps people have this amazing transformation or I sell a product that helps heal their body in some way and is good for them. And why am I not taking advantage of that?

Many people like wait all year long and save their money to spend it at this time of year. So I started thinking about it and it is Mindset Monday. So we do need to use this time to shift our thinking, right? That's the whole point. So rather than just sit back for the next week and watch a bunch of soulless, like plastic doohickeys pull in a billion dollars, why not use this time as solopreneurs as service providers to practice some authentic and soulful sales practices? 

Um, and even just use this opportunity as an opportunity to grow your own business You know, bandwidth for showing up in the marketplace at a time when you may have otherwise not felt like you fit in or you're not sure like what your messaging would be. So I've been thinking a lot about this and kind of what embodies the kind of intentional marketing that I want to do all the time  and not just around holidays.

And I came up with five actionable tips to help us solopreneurs get Stay consistent and confident, uh, while we're marketing things and selling things over Thanksgiving,  uh, while maintaining also just a mindset of connection and gratitude.  So let's go. Here we go. Number one. My number one tip is to embrace gratitude in your messaging.

So Thanksgiving is a time of  truly gratitude.  Stepping out of all of the, you know, chaos of our lives and focusing on what we have  maybe more than ever. I mean, I like to try and do this literally every day, but if you don't have a morning gratitude practice, Thanksgiving is usually a time when we connect with family or whoever, you know, chosen family.

We just spend some time to reflect on things that are going well and that we can be grateful for. Um, even if life is upside down, so you can use this in your messaging, right? You can use Thanksgiving as a moment to connect genuinely with your audience by expressing your gratitude for them.  So share what you're thankful for in your business journey, um, and how your customers or your clients or followers have played a role in that gratitude.

So an example here is posting a, you could post a heartfelt video. of yourself, just like talking head. It could be a reel on Instagram or it could be a video that you shoot on your phone and then put it in an email.  And, and start with, because of you guys, I get to do what I love. And talk about why you are grateful for the people who are on the receiving end of your business offers.

Um, without your clients and your customers, you don't have a business. So this is a chance to thank them and be grateful. And that's it.  You know, you can always have your link list at the bottom of your email and of course, or it's attached to your bio and your social accounts. So the people who like and follow you are going to appreciate you sharing the things about your business and clients that make you feel that gratitude.

And maybe you would inspire them to even respond to your thoughtful post and whether or not they click a link and buy right then and there, like you don't even need to sell from this post. This is just you expressing gratitude, staying relevant, connecting to the season and the holiday. And you can have your offers, you know, linked someplace  nearby so they can choose to go and see what you have to sell if they want to. 

Um,  and you could also, you know, authentically just say like, I ha, you know, I have my list of, my list of offers are down below if you're interested, have a look. Like you don't have to be super salesy.  So just, Tip one is just embrace gratitude in your messaging.  It's a great time to stay connected in that way.

Tip number two is to set manageable expectations. So like I was saying, holidays are just overwhelming time for people. Maybe we're confronting, you know, differences that we have with family members that we don't see that often. Maybe we spend holidays alone and that feels really overwhelming. Maybe, you know, this is a time when people are spending a ton of money, but we don't have a lot of money.

And that can be conflicting. Um, there's just a lot of reasons why it can be confusing. a challenging time. So my, my advice here is to focus on one or two key activities inside your business, such as scheduling your social media posts in advance or engaging with your community for like 10 minutes a day.

Keep it manageable, keep it short and allow yourself the time that you need to, um, give yourself the grace and the space, right? So our confidence comes from knowing that we stay showing up. Consistency builds confidence. So. So, with this tip, it's just, don't just go missing this week. Stay, stay active, but give yourself manageable expectations.

Don't expect yourself to be like full throttle. Give yourself the space to be connected to the holiday, um, and then just stay connected to your community in small but meaningful ways.  If you want a deeper dive on some strategies to help you stay productive over the holiday, uh, so you don't lose momentum.

I did actually post a full episode on that topic earlier in the year. It was heading into the 4th of July holiday week and it was like another long stretch of time. That I was like, Oh, you know, it's so easy to just kind of lose momentum. So that's episode number 20 is called how to stay productive while enjoying your holiday and give that a listen if you want like productivity tips.

But for this tip for tip number two, it's just kind of set manageable expectations, give yourself like 10, 15 minutes a day that you're going to show up so you don't lose momentum. Um, and don't expect yourself to do more than that. And in that 10, 15 minutes a day, you never know who you're going to connect with in the DMs who might decide to want to know more.

I mean, you could strike up a conversation that leads to a sale. It's totally all in the connections, right? Your network is your net worth. So  tip three is to lean in to authentic conversations.  So, it is the holidays. Instead of pushing hard sales, focus on storytelling. Focus on using this time to share really interesting stories and lean into your storytelling tools.

It's a great time to practice that. So even if you're in a launch phase and you're hoping to make sales.  Or even if you're really need the money right now, like this is like, yeah, but I need to pay my rent and you feel like you need to sell to make your monthly quota. Like even if you feel pressure to sell, I want you to lean into these authentic conversations in the storytelling tools. 

There's so much power in, in heart centered storytelling. So this could be, you know, share behind the scenes moments. Of what's going on for you. Like, is it you learning how to make gravy for the first time ever? Like, how are you balancing work and family over the holiday? Or maybe just adding a more personal anecdote about a product or a service that reminds you of the season. 

So this is going to invite your audience to see that human side of your brand. It will deepen their connection to the person behind the brand and add value. And so whether or not they buy right at this time, Your right fit clients, like your really true dream clients, the people who really do want to work with you, they eventually are going to remember this and appreciate this more authentic side of you.

So yeah, tip three is lean into those, um, heart centered, authentic conversations with your messaging.  Okay. Tip four, turn your gratitude into offers. So this is kind of a creative tip, right? So if you do decide to say.  I'm doing black Friday. I'm doing cyber Monday. Like I'm just, I'm jumping into the big chaotic messaging, you know,  wheel, and I'm going to throw my stuff out there and I'm going to go for it.

And I'm going to post every day and call it, you know, a sale or whatever. Please feel free to do that by all means. Um, but I encourage you to think about positioning any deals that you want to put out there. I'm going to be talking about how to create a product that is authentic to your values. This allows you to have integrity.

around a sale.  So,  you know, like an example of this would be saying to them as a token of my gratitude, I'm offering this special blank offer for the next 48 hours. It's going to help you step into this new season, feeling empowered, feeling supported, or whatever benefit your product or offer provides. Um, another thing you could do is you could come up with a clever name for your offer or your sale that incorporates that gift to you theme and tie it right into the name of the offer.

So, I mean,  instead of calling it a Black Friday sale, right? You could call it, like, my thank you sale or something. I don't know, that's so un special what I just came up with, but you get my point. You can brainstorm or, you know, use ChatGPT if you have to, but brainstorm a couple of names that tie the thank you, the thanks, and the gratitude offer into your sale so that you're kind of letting them know this is like, My way of saying thank you is by discounting this for a couple of days. 

Okay. And then tip number five, which is an, an often overlooked, um, way to connect and share is to celebrate small wins and share them publicly with your audience. So this is going to help you stay motivated by reflecting back on what you've accomplished over the year and sharing those wins with your audience.

So this could be, you know, Posting a story about growth, um, looking back and reflecting on lessons that you've learned, or challenges that you've overcome, and showing and expressing your gratitude for it. This could be a milestone that you achieved thanks to their support. So just let your audience celebrate with you, and while, you know, continuing to stay connected to them, that's going to inspire confidence in you.

for you because you're, you're, you're showing up in the space. You're not just sitting back and hiding. You're sharing information about your business. That's also connected to something that they contributed to. So if you had clients, you know, step in this year and do the work with you, you can share what that looks like.

meant to you. You can share that accomplishment  in your emails, in your posts, , and thank them for it. So, , just as an example, that could be a post that you put up where, you know, it could be a talking head, direct to camera saying something like "This Thanksgiving, I'm celebrating this  (fill in the blank)  "milestone and the amazing community that made it possible for me. 

And just saying, I'm excited to keep growing together and kind of messaging around, you know, the An achievement that you've actually accomplished  and anyone watching, you know, is who maybe isn't already a client, but who's been reading your work or reading your blog or listening to your podcast or checking out your offers, thinking about working with you, they're going to be really, uh, turned on by the fact that you have an achievement. 

You publicly thank the people who you decide to work with you. That's just kind of a nice magnetizing thing to do.  So  those are my five tips. , just a really quick recap. One, embrace gratitude in your messaging.  , by saying things like, "because of you, I get to do what I love" 

Two,  set manageable expectations and continue to show up, but let yourself do it in small buckets. If that's what you need right now. 

Three, lean into the authentic conversations, lean into storytelling, share authentic. Behind the scenes looks at your life. Share, you know, authentically about who you are so people can see the human side of your brand. 

Four, turn gratitude into offers by calling your offer a thank you gift.

 And five, celebrate small wins and show that you are grateful for all that you've accomplished this year and that you want to turn that gratitude back towards your audience.  

And here's the overall takeaway for all these tips. It's that by keeping your tone warm and human and anchored in gratitude, you can maintain, you know, that confidence, that showing up in the space  and also create a sense of connection with your audience and, and warm them up even more, build trust with them even more.

Without being salesy, so you're, you're present, you're in the space, you're not just like disappearing because it's like Black Friday and you want to run screaming from it like I have done.  Um, and again, you don't need to be competing with like Best Buy or Home Depot for like the best bargain around, right?

 You might not be in a position to discount offers like that, but you could have some fun and you could be creative with the purpose of this season, which is connection and gratitude.  So,  I hope you do stay connected this week. I hope you decide to try some of these tips and if they help you, I would love to hear about it.

You can always tag me in your post, um, on Instagram. You can tag mindset to market pod  or you can always just email me directly. I love getting emails from the listeners and anyone, you know, that reads my emails and stuff. My email address is hello at Deborah C. Smith dot com. And my name is spelled D E B O R A H C S M I T H.

Email me. I love hearing from you. Email me if you want to be a guest. Email me if you have a question. I respond to every email.  And I just want to take one extra minute of your time to say thank you for listening to this episode and to the show in general. I cannot tell you how much it means to me. I have, this has been such a blessing this year.

When I started this, I knew it would be good, but it's been absolutely Game changing for me to be connected to so many people this way. I have a mission to help as many solopreneurs as possible swim out past the breakers and get to that point in your business where you find a groove, right? Where you have consistent monthly income from your personal vision and dream.

In this podcast is my way of connecting to you and sharing my strategies, sharing my support.  And so thank you so much for being a part of it, for being on the listening end.  Thank you to everyone who took 30 seconds to drop me a rating, um, on Apple podcast or, or, uh, Spotify. Thank you.  Like to the, from the bottom of my heart for the people who took an extra minute to leave me a review. 

Please do so if you don't mind. It really makes my day. It's made my year. I'm eternally grateful. And, um, and hey, if you found this helpful, if you like these tips or if you found any of my episodes helpful, please share it with a friend who you think it may inspire or support.  And lastly, I hope you and your family, your community, um, anyone in your world, your business, your clients, all the people that you're connected to, I hope they're safe.

I hope they are healthy. Uh, and feel loved this holiday season and always. And yeah, I'm just sending you out my, my, my deepest heartfelt gratitude and love right now, and I'll be back next week  with another Mindset Monday. And until then, I hope you have a great holiday and as always, may you be vibrant.