Google Trends and Promotion Schedules

Have you ever messed around with Google Trends? This is the search engine-ish tool that shows the volume of searches that people are doing based on the time of year. This photo shows that the best time for back to school is, gasp, August. That said, I was super surprised that the best time for "gifts for mom" was NOT Mother's Day but Christmas.  

So what does this mean for your small business and how does it differ from the standard, "do 4th of July promotions in late June".  

Well, you need to know your keywords and what you are trying to rank for. Let's take a look our friend Debbie Hall who is a Mary Kay lady. She sells makeup and skin care products. In this picture you can see that there were huge spikes for Mary Kay in 2005 and 2006 which were for the arrest and trial of Mary Kay Letourneau which we can disregard entirely. The neat thing that I like is that there has been a consistent upward trend for Mary Kay over the last few years. 

Additionally we get some other good keywords we could use…Mary Kay online, Mary Kay products, and Mary Kay makeup. What we did not get are trends that we could capitalize on. That said, I do see that every December Mary Kay drops like a stone so I would NOT try to use that keyword then. 

So what should she use? Let's think about summer and sunscreen, "Mary Kay Sunscreen" goes nuts every May and June and generally flatlines for the rest of the year. Debbie could write blog posts about, "Why you should make sure to reapply sunscreen every 4 hours", "How to keep your kids safe with sunscreen" and "What is the proper SPF for sunscreen". She could share that post on Facebook, Stumble Upon and Google Plus. She could post pictures of Mary Kay sunscreen on Pinterest or do a little video about the proper way to apply sunscreen on YouTube. 

 In each case she should NOT sell Mary Kay sunscreen in her posts but put a neat little ">> Looking for the best sunscreen? Check out our SPF 50" at the end of each one! 

Now, I KNOW most people are not creative so let's do some fun other examples! If you want us to give you some ideas about good Google Trends leave a comment below and we will add it to the post! 

Google Trends Cool Examples - When should you sell your stuff! 
• Ad spending - October and November…corporations must be doing their marketing budgets 
• Bird feeders - May and December…not sure if this a Christmas thing or if world wide usage means that overseas their summer is opposite 
• Car sales - NOT October, November and December…so must be because of the holidays 
• Dog grooming - Annual peaks in June and July…we all must be worried that Fido is going to be too hot with his winter coat on! 
• Electronics - December…good for Christmas sales 
• Fans - June and August…must be a "buy it now" purchase because people are not looking in advance of the heat 
• Google keyword trends - Not enough search volume to show results..don't get discouraged, just pick another term! 
• Home cleaning - another mystery one..July and April, what about spring cleaning? 
• iPhone - October and September…must be when the new models come out 
• Jewelry - December…but peaks other times…wondering if that is with the price of gold? If you were selling gold jewelry you should know that and choose other words to get buyers 
• Karate classes - June and August…probably to keep the little darlings amused during the summer 
• LG television - December shopping but interesting bumps in May too 
• Mentoring - Another dud for December and also the summer months…just good to know so all you coaches and trainers can plan accordingly 
• Nail polish - thought this one was a dud but there is a surge in July 
• Oakley - Sunglasses that top in July…would have thought that would be sooner, always pays to check • Painting - October is the month for painting…seems weird but true 
• Quikcrete - this is fast drying concrete and is probably used by people sprucing up their homes for the summer 
• Self publish books - Not good months but SO interesting that it is increasing strongly 
• Tax help - February and a little April BUT if you are doing all your promotions in March or April, you are missing the window to get those searches 
• Umbrella - June and July…no April showers or May flowers here 
• Vacations - January..with a vengance! 
• Web marketing - Is in a downward trend BUT peaks every September and October 
• Xbox - December of course, but also June…knowing these sub trends can mean MUCH less competition then! 
• YAKIMA - Bike rack makers…not surprisingly they are big in the summer (July especially) 
• Zumba - January hands down…would guess that this is the "lose weight" crowd from New Years resolutions 

so there you have it…a couple of notes from this exercise.

NEVER assume you know when people are searching for your product or service. Take the time to check out the Google Trends site to make sure you KNOW when your best chances are. We didn't talk about this but they also will tell you what is trending now, which you can use to piggyback on. And lastly, try LOTS of keywords…some things you never thought would have a "season" do! 

Guest post by Tara Jacobsen, Marketing Author and Speaker, whose free class "The Best Darn Free Email Marketing Course EVER" is one of our favorites!

  THIS POST BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

Jeff Orzel, Sales Consultant
American Furniture Warehouse, COMPARK
(303) 799-9044 | Meet Jeff Orzel



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Questions To Ask Yourself Before You Take The Plunge Into Starting A Business

by Gloria J. Little

So you truly believe that you are able to have a business. Why, because others have one? Or because you think you would be good at it. So did I until I failed for the first three times. Then, I got a clue. Business doesn’t just happen!!!

Before you make that move into what may be the worst idea you have ever had in life, take the following test for success. Be honest with you because it is you who will be made or broken in the process.

1. Are you organized or do you have to try to remember where your house keys are on a daily basis?

2. Do you have personal drive or do you have to be persuaded to change the channel on the TV?

3. Are you a leader or do you have trouble getting your pet to go outside?

4. How is your health? Do you get a cold when there is a 1-degree change in the weather?

5. Are you able to maintain for long hours? Or will your place of business close at noon, because you are so tired?

6. Are you mentally UP for the challenge?

7. Are you prepared for the risk involved?

8. Are you prepared to wait several months for your first profit?

9. What is your reason for wanting to start a business?

10. Is your business your passion?

11. Who are your customers outside of your immediate circle of influence?

12. What are the demographics of your customer base?

13. Do you have the expertise you need in the business you want to start?

14. How are you going to sell what you have at a price that will return an adequate profit for you?

15. Can you obtain the necessary funds you will need to start and keep the business running without getting into a cash flow problem?

16. Do you think and plan ahead?

17. Do you have a business plan?

18. Do you know the difference between marketing, promoting and advertising?

19. Who is advising you?

20. Start writing out your plan.

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