Traveling right after christmas

[Xander]

James and I are wanting to travel to Florida immediately after Christmas Dec 27th - Jan6th (The only time we can do it due to school scheduling and flying around to see family) but I'm concerned about there being very little business due to the holidays. Does anyone have any experience with traveling close to major holidays? We'd be funding the semester's textbooks with that go around, hehe.

[rickp]

Yeah, I have often visited family in New Orleans for Christmas and then stayed on for the week after to see clients. The week between Christmas and New Years has always been very busy there for me.

[maxwellissmart]

Yeah, I have often visited family in New Orleans for Christmas and then stayed on for the week after to see clients. The week between Christmas and New Years has always been very busy there for me.

 

Last year at that time turned out to be my busiest week ever.

[josephga]

My best week of the year for massage was December 24 to jan 1 did 1700.00 that one week in 75.00 massages. my worst week was actually thanksgiving week. I find that business comes in spurts. I have the large periods phone ringing everyday booked to the point of having to turn people down then all of a sudden no calls at all for 4 days then busy again. Once I went 9 days not a single client then booked solid for 3 weeks. I looked at yearly sales september and november were my worst months.

[maxwellissmart]

I find that business comes in spurts.

 

My business comes in spurts too.

 

[bigvalboy]

My best week of the year for massage was December 24 to jan 1 did 1700.00 that one week in 75.00 massages. my worst week was actually thanksgiving week. I find that business comes in spurts. I have the large periods phone ringing everyday booked to the point of having to turn people down then all of a sudden no calls at all for 4 days then busy again. Once I went 9 days not a single client then booked solid for 3 weeks. I looked at yearly sales september and november were my worst months.

 

Just wanted to tell you Joseph that your record keeping for your business is very impressive. This is not the first time that you have been able to just give out figures like that. I think that tracking information like that helps you to fine tune the business to your advantage. Perhaps offering specials in advance when you know that traditionally you will have a down period. Nice to see you posting again, and hope you are well.

[josephga]

Yeah I have a spread sheet type set up on my lap top I can currently go back too 2010. I don't keep phone numbers or personal info but I do track sales and from which advertisers I get the most sales from. I know that I get more sales from new york, LA and Washington. The bulk of my sales also come from travelers with very few local sales

[maxwellissmart]

Yeah I have a spread sheet type set up on my lap top I can currently go back too 2010. I don't keep phone numbers or personal info but I do track sales and from which advertisers I get the most sales from. I know that I get more sales from new york, LA and Washington. The bulk of my sales also come from travelers with very few local sales

 

I use Google Calendar and put name, fee, contact info and then a description of them and what happened. My memory is great with some prodding, but on its own—not so much. I've avoided some major disasters that way, or made sure that someone got bumped to the head of the line when it was deserved.

[josephga]

One thing I know I don't do is spend enough on advertising. I only spend around 115.00 a month on ads

[Xander]

I use Google Calendar and put name, fee, contact info and then a description of them and what happened. My memory is great with some prodding, but on its own—not so much. I've avoided some major disasters that way, or made sure that someone got bumped to the head of the line when it was deserved.

 

I do the same thing with my calendar -- and have my google calendar integrated into my site with the details set to private.

 

As for accounting -- I actually have better accounting records for James than I do myself -- I used to keep a client database but my hard copy I had backed up 'in the cloud' got deleted somehow =|..

 

Still not sure if traveling is a good idea. We are in a decent sized city already which may be getting a good influx of travelers.

[Xander]

My best week of the year for massage was December 24 to jan 1 did 1700.00 that one week in 75.00 massages. my worst week was actually thanksgiving week. I find that business comes in spurts. I have the large periods phone ringing everyday booked to the point of having to turn people down then all of a sudden no calls at all for 4 days then busy again. Once I went 9 days not a single client then booked solid for 3 weeks. I looked at yearly sales september and november were my worst months.

 

Ditto. A couple weeks ago I had 6 clients back to back on a Friday - and here I am again with no calls in four days. I remember last November being particularly rough. Thankfully this was also when I had an injury keeping me from working so I wasn't missing out on too many calls.

[josephga]

I've only seen 1 client since thanksgiving and that was sat night.

[bigvalboy]

I've only seen 1 client since thanksgiving and that was sat night.

 

I think what is important to find out, and you might already know the answer, but is advertising really cost effective. If you are already getting a bulk of your business from your website or word of mouth, then spending more on ads may not be beneficial...anyway...always pulling for you Joseph.

[Xander]

I think what is important to find out, and you might already know the answer, but is advertising really cost effective. If you are already getting a bulk of your business from your website or word of mouth, then spending more on ads may not be beneficial...anyway...always pulling for you Joseph.

 

Dropping advertising when numbers are already low? Risky move. Bigval -- those clients in december may be doing their searching in November. Not enough market info available to know, but cutting marketing is risky business

[down_to_business]

Ditto. A couple weeks ago I had 6 clients back to back on a Friday - and here I am again with no calls in four days. I remember last November being particularly rough. Thankfully this was also when I had an injury keeping me from working so I wasn't missing out on too many calls.

 

Maybe that guy in New York City is telling people you stole his pictures