Avoid a cash crisis this Christmas so you’ve got more to spend on yourself

This post won’t be particularly exciting, but it is incredibly important! As we run around throughout the year, maybe taking a week long break here or there, we are working out tight little butts off to make some dosh to spend on our fabulous wardrobes and fabulous martinis.

But over Christmas when businesses close, the money stops, and we find ourselves in a little bit of a cash crisis. I mean – how can we hit the boxing day sales with serious ammunition after buying perfect Christmas presents for our friends and family?

Luckily you don’t need to stress! Even if you aren’t the best saver in the world, there are some easy things you can do to stay finance savvy over the Christmas period.

1. Budget. For every person you want to buy a Christmas present, set a budget and stick to it. Look for gifts that fit that price range. Most stores and brands have gift guides available so keep an eye out for those to get some great ideas.

2. Better yet – DIY. There are so many ways you can make beautiful gifts yourself for a third of the cost in store. Make a beautiful scented candle, a gorgeous chunky necklace, personalise an iPhone case or do some homemade cooking for your family and friends.

3. Eat in. Instead of going out for dinner and Christmas parties. Host one at home! There are so many ways to make this cost effective. If you’re having a BBQ make it bring your own meat and drinks. If it’s a large group, assign meals to each person so they can all bring a plate. If it is a casual dinner, tell everyone to bring $10 and combine it all. You can buy some amazing take-away thai or pizzas.

4. Drink punch. Make a big batch of punch between you and your friends to drink at parties and catch-ups. Combine some delicious juice, fruit, champagne and vodka and it becomes a great, cost-effective way of having a good time.

5. Wrap creatively. Use old newspaper or magazine pages to wrap your gifts. Make it look chic by tying a beautiful bright red, silver or gold ribbon around the gifts afterwards. You can get beautiful ribbon from craft stores for reasonable prices.

6. Send E-Cards. The price of beautiful Christmas cards is enough to make you trip over your Louboutins. Add the price of postage (which keeps increasing!) and you have one very expensive activity. Send an E-Card to your friends and family by downloading a free Christmas vector and writing your message in an email. If you want to time save, create a mail chimp account and you can send in batches with personalised name fields.

The biggest thing to remember is to think about what you are spending! If you turn a blind eye to your bank balance, your digits will drop and next thing you know you’ll be in Kookai feasting on the sales and your card wont work.

Happy shopping! I’d love to know what your favourite Christmas saving tips are! 

 

Networking: how to maximise your outcomes fabulously!

Networking is a critical PR tool that leads to solid business development, but like most things, there is a serious strategic aspect to it. If you barely have time to change your undies and have your nails done, or your calendar looks something like this: 

Then this brief guide will help you to chose the best events and maximise the impact of your networking to make sure your BD really is fabulous! 

1. Choose your events wisely
You want to make sure the events you go to are filled with key members of your target audience. Networking with other professionals in your space is important to help maintain knowledge of your competitors, but if you want to get more clients in the door and really spread awareness in your key markets then make sure you attend their events. 

2. Always carry business cards or other marketing collateral
You want to splash your brand out there like no tomorrow! Make sure you have business cards, brochures, information packs or online details available and ready to hand out to everyone you meet. Try to exchange them rather than just give them so you can expand your database of key contacts. 

3. Add them to your CRM
Make surge you enter all business cards/information received into your CRM, mailing list or contact database. This way, you can ensure they receive your updates, newsletter or blog posts and you can manage staying front of mind. 

4. Follow up 
Within 48 hours, send your new found contacts an email, ping them an article of relevance, exchange information over social media sites. Make surge you reaffirm the relationship which will make it easier to call upon them and pitch to them as a potential client further down the track. 

Make sure you make the most of your networking and watch your business development skyrocket! X