Seasonal e-commerce businesses, such as those specializing in holiday decorations or summer clothing, rely heavily on specific seasons or holidays to drive their sales. However, when the off-season rolls around, these businesses can often struggle to maintain their customer base and generate revenue.

Finding ways to attract customers during the off-season can be challenging, but it is essential for the long-term success of these businesses. Below, a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council members share effective strategies that seasonal e-commerce businesses can use to keep their customers engaged and generate sales throughout the year.

1. Cover Shipping Costs

Offer free shipping. It’s one of the most efficient strategies to attract customers during the off-season. Shipping costs have often been a dealbreaker for many customers when ordering stuff online. So, allowing your customers to get their preferred items at their doorsteps without having to pay an extra amount can help bring traction to your store during the off-season. – Chris Klosowski, Easy Digital Downloads

2. Reframe Your Marketing Strategy

Incentivizing prospects with deep discounts and early-bird specials can be an effective strategy, but convincing them that it’s best to get ahead of their need for the product is also critical. Consider reframing your marketing so that it builds a case for why this is the best time to make a purchase. If you have complementary products, the “off-season” is a great time to cross-sell to customers. – Samuel Saxton, ConsumerRating.org

3. Host A Giveaway

One clever way to improve sales for your business is to host an off-season giveaway. People are always willing to participate in a risk-free contest, even if the product isn’t in season. The key to turning your giveaway into sales is to send everyone who participated but didn’t win a thank-you email with a limited-time discount. – Chris Christoff, MonsterInsights

4. Leverage Your Mailing List

Make use of your database. Peak season is an excellent opportunity to build a mailing list. As the lull of your slow season approaches, a mailing list can pay off as a way to connect with customers about special offers or products. With this, you can stay top of mind with customers throughout the year by offering specials or helpful tips, gaining more word-of-mouth recommendations from delighted patrons. – Tonika Bruce, Lead Nicely, Inc.

5. Create A Loyalty Program

One way to attract customers during the off-season is by creating a loyalty program. By offering a discount or rewards points, you can encourage customers to shop with you even outside of the peak season. Make sure to frame the loyalty program in a way that emphasizes the value for customers in the program exclusively. This makes it more appealing and likely to boost sales during the off-season. – Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner

6. Explore Other Profitable Niches

One of the best ways for a seasonal e-commerce business to attract customers during the off-season is to consider exploring other niches. Since you’re in a seasonal business, any fix you come up with would be temporary. Next year, you’d more likely be facing the same problem. So, think ahead and consider exploring other profitable niches to expand your business and attract new customers. – Stephanie Wells, Formidable Forms

7. Offer Special Discounts Or Limited-Edition Products

One way for seasonal e-commerce businesses to attract customers during the off-season is to offer special promotions or discounts on their products. For example, a beach-themed business could offer a discount on sunscreen or beach towels during the winter months when people are less likely to be thinking about their summer vacations. Another strategy could be to offer limited-edition products. – Fritz Colcol, Simply Thalia

8. Collaborate With Other Brands

By partnering with other brands, you can attract more people to your website during the off-season. Guest posts, sponsored posts and collaborative videos are all excellent options that will drive traffic to your site, even if your product or service isn’t in season. If the content is helpful, people who find your company during this time may decide to continue engaging with your brand. – John Turner, SeedProd LLC

Over the last two decades, the internet has witnessed a significant surge in accessibility, drawing in millions of people to online platforms. The future prospects for eCommerce growth in India are immensely promising, and the rising usage of smartphones is expected to fuel this trend even further.

Personal style is quite distinctive, with people leaning towards different levels of comfort and fashion. However, when it comes to apparel, Italy is distinguished for its opulent designs and craftsmanship. Such a level of elegance is now readily accessible through Italian Colony.

Mr. Chintan Mehta, CEO & Founder of Italian Colony, said, “After operating a B2B men’s clothing business for over ten years, we noticed that men are drawn to high-quality apparel that features the latest fashion at affordable costs. We decided to start an online business to increase our reach because B2B has its own limitations. With Italian Colony, we want to offer a large selection of men’s apparel at affordable prices.”

The launch of Italian Colony’s online store comes at a time when the e-commerce industry in India is expected to expand and reach a market size of US$ 188 billion by 2025 as per innoraft.com. Italian Colony is poised to tap into this growth and meet the increasing demand for affordable, high-quality men’s clothing in the Indian market.

The online store currently offers a range of men’s pants, including joggers, cargos, jeans, and trousers. Italian Colony plans to add more categories in the future and become a one-stop shop for men’s fashion in India. Customers can find exquisite Italian designs, flawless tailoring, and lavish details at affordable prices.

Italian Colony plans to further expand its footprint by connecting with other e-commerce platforms to enable customers to purchase their favourite Italian-style men’s apparel from anywhere in the world conveniently.

To shop Italian-style men’s apparel, please visit: www.italiancolony.com

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When I first started my business I spent two weeks cold emailing members of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. I lived in Brooklyn, so I thought it would be a great opportunity to quickly get some local clients. I got two responses.

One person booked me for a small project. And by small, I mean I made $100. I was disappointed but eventually found success with a different approach. Instead of messaging individual members, I asked my contact at the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce if they were interested in me leading a workshop for the entire community. I believe the topic was “Digital Marketing for Small Businesses” or something along those lines.

They said yes, promoted me to their list, and even gave me access to a conference room at no charge. The day of the event I was shocked to see over 50 people show up to hear me speak. After the event, several attendees rushed over to speak to me. Mind you, I’m positive I reached out to some of them via email just weeks before.

But after hearing me speak, their perception of me changed. I wasn’t just some random person trying to sell them something. I was the guy who already shared valuable content and they wanted to know how I could apply that information to their specific business. I walked out with a stack of business cards and closed two deals within the next week.

That’s when it hit me: speaking was a much more efficient process for building my credibility, attracting leads and closing deals. And that’s why I was so glad Ashley Kirkwood agreed to appear on the Launch Your Business podcast. Ashley is the author of Speak Your Way to Cash®: How to Start at the Top of the Speaking Market Instead of Working Your Way Up from the Bottom! Her organization, also called Speak Your Way to Cash, teaches professionals to better package, pitch, and sell their products and services.

During our interview she shared tactic-level strategies on how you can get paid from and through speaking opportunities. I’ve shared some of my favorite takeaways below.

Don’t sell better than you deliver, and don’t deliver better than you sell

We’ll start with the first part: don’t sell better than you deliver. This can be catastrophic since you’re letting the client down and damaging your reputation. Plus, you won’t be able to generate leads after delivering a lackluster performance. So while it may be tempting to charge big bucks from the start, make sure your fee is aligned with the results you’ve already been able to deliver.

At the same time, don’t deliver better than you sell. As an expert you have a skewed perception of how valuable your knowledge is. But remember, what comes easy to you may be quite difficult for others. So don’t undersell yourself. Otherwise you won’t make enough money and you’ll be less likely to continue speaking, which means you won’t be able to help those who need you.

How much to charge for speaking engagements

Although you may just want to speak for lead generation and branding purposes, there’s no reason you shouldn’t get paid at the same time. And while I recommend speaking for free to get your feet wet, you should seriously consider charging for your services once you’ve begun to establish yourself.

Asking for $1,000 is enough to justify your time without being too expensive for many organizations. However, Ashley encourages you to continue ascending so you can charge your true value. She referenced an industry report that revealed the average professional speaker charges $7,500. So consider this a next step once you’ve landed a few gigs at a lower price point.

How to create a $100k speaking package

This was by far my favorite take away from the conversation. Most speakers only pitch one event to potential partners. As a result, they’re automatically limiting their revenue potential.

Instead, Ashley encourages you to pitch a series of talks and includes additional options such as e-books, courses and VIP dinners. Beyond that, you can greatly increase your rates by including consulting services. Offering to help individuals or organizations apply what they’ve learned during your event is a great way to form a deeper partnership and greatly increase your rates.

Next Steps

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Listen to the full episode with Ashley below.