If you create products in any form, whether they are physical items or digital books, they have a good chance of being seasonal.

I use the word seasonal loosely as there are many special days throughout the year including celebration days such as Christmas, Easter, Mother’s Day etc; and a whole lot of awareness days including ‘potato month’ or ‘asparagus day’ –

I just made them up but a quick google search can clue you into national or international celebration days.

Having said all that, planning your product launches can be complicated and I would suggest creating a spreadsheet or using a diary on or offline to keep track of everything; Product ideas for each month/season, ordering supplies, dates to launch and market etc;

Always allow enough time to make the items and have a strategy in place if you get more orders than you anticipated.

So apart from the great ideas flowing out of your ears and the boring admin stuff weighing you down, there is another issue that creatives have to address. It’s an issue that magazine publishers have been dealing with forever and we have no choice but to comply with the way it’s always been done. We have to have a lead time, even if you do think outside the box and want to do it your way!

I get it. I’m guilty every year of deciding to write a book about making Christmas gifts or crocheting christmas tree decorations at the end of NOVEMBER! This does NOT work if you are trying to make a living from your creations or are already running a small business, believe me….

As living beings we’re very likely to be affected by the weather, temperatures and daylight hours, hence wanting to start making Christmas things at the end of November. But there is a way to find that Christmas creative spark in July, or a summer cocktail recipe in December. By stimulating our senses we can trick our brains – left and right sides 🙂 – into finding the inspiration and motivation we need to get the timing right for our small or hobby business.

A while ago, I wrote an article Stimulate Your Senses that was related to creative writing and it was published on a few popular writing websites at the time. I haven’t edited it and it still veers towards writing but I’ve decided to apply it to my other pursuits and it seems to be working well. I’m working on Easter Bunnies as we speak!

Check through the article as I’m pretty sure you’ll get some out-of-the-box inspiration to help you get your products out on time next season.

Good Luck and stay safe

Linda x

P.S. The article is only a 5 minute read – less if you scan! Copy it onto your phone or desktop and refer to it when the weather is playing with your motivation. Stimulate Your Senses