Hey, small business owner! We know you’re wondering how to plan for a profitable Q4, so here’s the lowdown of everything you can do NOW to make the most of the craziest time of the year.

Get organized

Here, I’ll just drop you a task list. Pretend you signed up for a challenge — but instead of me cluttering up your inbox, you’re going to jot these down on your schedule. Day 1 :: Inbox 0 Ever hear of unroll.me? It’s a brilliant little app that’ll roll all of your subscriptions into one magazine-style email per day, instead of a million. If you haven’t done it recently, start there. If you have a few dozen emails, sort them into folders & go through the urgent ones TODAY.  But if your inbox is completely out of control, maybe today’s the day that you file email bankruptcy. Yes, terrifying. But let’s be real — are you ever going to get through those 3000+ messages? No, you’re not. Archive your entire inbox & start fresh. Day 2 :: Clean up your desktop I don’t know about you, but I have wayyyyy too many files lingering on my desktop & in my recycle bin. Now is a great time to go through everything, organize it, and delete the stuff you don’t need. (The longer you wait, the worse it gets — and you don’t want to do this the weekend before Black Friday. Do. It.) Day 2 :: Clean up your workspace Repeat after me: outer order, inner calm. Clean up your desk / studio / office. ‘Nuf said. Day 3 :: Optimize your social profiles No need to get fancy here — just freshen up your bio, update links as needed, and remove anything that’s gotten stale. Day 4 :: Track your time You’re going to feel like a whole new woman after completing Days 1-4! Track your time over the next week or so and see where the leaks are — can you delegate (or dump) anything before the busy season hits? We love to use Clockify to keep track of our time. And if you’re really serious about getting organized, you’re going to want to take a peek at ClickUp or Asana (that is, if you haven’t already!). Both apps are a total game-changer.

Get clear on your goals… & how you’re going to get there

1. Journal! Get all of those brilliant ideas (and garbagey doubts) out of your head & onto a piece of paper.
2. Celebrate the wins you’ve already had this year. It’s so easy to forget about these if you don’t take a few minutes to do this every once in a while.
3. What are your weak spots? What’s not working? What feels bad? Where are you spending time & energy without results?
4. Consider your revenue goals. What are you going to offer? How much do you need to sell? How can you promote it & when?
5. Don’t neglect to consider your feeling goals. How do you want to feel on November 20th? December 20th? How are you going to make that happen?

Want a workbook? We’ve gotchu!

Map out a marketing plan.

Sales are the lifeblood of your business – and you’re gonna get more of ‘em if you’ve got a game plan! Don’t worry, I’m not going to tell you to create an entire quarter of content in one sitting. Here’s what to do instead:

1. Refresh or create a lead magnet (don’t complicate this! Simple is better!) and double check your welcome sequence.
2. Create a ROUGH outline for Q4 content — headlines for at least 4 weeks, and a general game plan for the rest. Know where you’re going to show up, how often, and what you’re going to talk about.

That’s it!