12 Days of Christmas Marketing for Belly Dancers

The holidays are so busy, and often the first thing to go out the door is any marketing you had planned for your business this month. Newsletters slide by another week. Blogs don’t get updated. Twitter and Facebook stand idle.  I get it. Really!

So, I thought I’d make a list of marketing quickies. Things you can do fast, perhaps with a cup of cocoa in your hand, that will help keep your business moving forward.

1. Claim and verify your listing on Places.Google.com (if that’s already done, check it to make sure it’s still there. Sometimes those place pages go on walk-about.)
2. Schedule a holiday Tweet and Facebook post for Christmas Day, Solstice, Hanukah, and New Years.
3. Don’t know how to schedule your tweets and posts? Sign up for Hootsuite.com
4. Set up your own channel on YouTube and “like” a few videos of your favorite dancers.
5. Subscribe to a few dance channels on YouTube (you might start with BellyDanceTeacherTip or MECDA)
6. Start a twitter list of dancers you admire and retweet something.
7. Find your local arts council and Chamber of Commerce on Facebook. “Like” their page and make a comment on some of their posts.
8. Send your students a holiday card (in the mail!)
9. Write a holiday greeting to send to your email list. Include your favorite cookie recipe.

10. Ask a few students to post reviews of your classes on your Google Place page.

11. Buy a pretty 2012 calendar just for your marketing plans.

12. Write down the start and end dates for your class sessions on your calendar.

13. Write down any workshops you plan to attend next year (like the MECDA Professional Dance Conference & Retreat in October!)

14. Write down an income goal for next year and break it down into monthly goals.

15. Brainstorm some ways to meet those monthly goals–workshops? Costume sales? More students?

16. Brainstorm some blog posts topics for next year.

17. Take a moment to look back at all you’ve accomplished in the past year. And pat yourself on the back. Maybe treat yourself to a year-end massage.

18. Print out some colorful new fliers for your classes and post them around town while you’re doing your holiday shopping.

19. Add a Paypal button to your classes page so people can sign up right on your website.

20. Set up a survey on SurveyGizmo.com or SurveyMonkey.com. Ask your students what they’d like to learn most next year.

21. Brainstorm some non-dance workshops you could teach. Costume DIY? Hairpieces? Makeup? Henna?

22. Brainstorm three groups of people you could market your classes to.  Corporate wellness programs? Women’s groups? Non-denominational churches? Teens?

23. Find the Facebook pages for those three groups in #22 and “like” their pages. Then make a friendly comment or post. Don’t promote, just say “hi” or say something nice.

24. Write an article or review of a recent show/workshop you attended and send it to your local dance association or favorite belly dance magazine.

 

Okay, so that’s more than 12 days…but I figure you can pick and choose. You’re smart like that.

Happy holidays to all of you – and a very very prosperous 2012!