I don’t know about you, but I’m not the biggest fan of that ‘lost’ period of time that sits between Christmas and New Year.

Sometimes it feels like a month of Sunday’s (now there’s a saying that doesn’t get used much these days). Very little happens in that week and it can really drag on.

This year while I sat nibbling on god knows how many left over Christmas treats, a young woman called Hannah hand delivered a flyer to our house.

I heard the letter box rattle and jumped up to see who or what had made the noise.

It was the most exciting thing to happen that day.

As I picked the flyer up off the floor and opened it, I could see why Hannah was out delivering them at this time of the year.

The flyer was for Slimming World and they were offering me a taste of freedom.

The Christmas and New Year period is generally a time of excess.

People eat and drink way more than they should all because they can… and want to.

Christmas and New Year is a time of celebration, a time to party and make merry, and it’s a time to relax and unwind from the pressure of the year past – which is ironic as it is officially one of the most stressful times of the year.

It’s also a time to throw out the old and bring in the new.

And for many people that means getting rid of old eating habits, getting rid of excess weight and becoming a new and improved person. Well, that’s the plan anyway.

While most people were still sat on their sofas watching films and troughing on Christmas treats, Hannah – the name written on the back of the flyer – was out and about putting the details of her Slimming World group into people’s hands.

The timing was perfect.

She did absolutely right to get herself out there while her target market were still gorging themselves on festive foods and slowly starting to hate themselves for becoming ‘fat’.

It’s become a bit of a modern joke. Everyone knows that at Christmas and New Year anything goes, ‘the diet starts in January’ is the motto.

What’s even funnier is that people embrace the excess, they know that they will eat and drink crap and put weight on, yet many still end up regretting it and some even resent themselves for doing what they knew they were going to do in the first place!

They spent weeks – possibly months – planning and buying the food.

However, the New Year is here and people are now starting to make changes.

A lot of people will have signed up to join Hannah’s fat club and are trying hard to lose the weight they gained over a food fuelled fortnight.

Hannah is a perfect example of hitting the market at the right time.

It’s well known that people want to lose weight and make changes at the start of a New Year right after a period of excess.

She took action and went out to find clients.

She didn’t sit around watching films stuffing her face with Quality Street waiting for people to come to her… she went out looking for them.

I don’t know how much it costs to join a Slimming World group, I’ve never had to, nor do I want to, but anyone can do what Hannah did with all manner of businesses.

In the past I have talked about printing up postcards and flyers for high priced items and affiliate products which can be popped through people’s letterboxes… there could be other services and products that can be offered at New Year other than helping people to lose weight.

Going out to find the right people at the right time and offering them a service which they need is a sure fire way of making a success of your business.

You don’t need me to tell you that… it’s a common sense approach; unfortunately a lot of people do not do it.

They may be scared of ‘putting themselves out there’ or they unrealistically believe that people will come looking for them.

Some people have this romantic view of business where they start something and people suddenly flock to them.

You see it all the time in soaps and soppy Christmas films, a new store opens and it’s an immediate success.

On opening day there is a queue of people waiting around the block to get in.

Minutes after opening the door, the store is swamped with happy customers throwing cash at the owner for goods she managed to make in her cosy shed just last week with the help of a ten year old orphan.

It’s an unrealistic view.

Any business which is swamped on launch or open day is because they have proactively spent months drumming up interest with the use of aggressive advertising and networking.

They went to the people… just as Hannah did.

Find the right people at the right time and offer them the right product… That’s it!

I wrote an article explaining how it’s possible to turn £20.39 into thousands of pounds doing what Hannah did… popping postcards or leaflets through doors.

You can read that article here:

How To Turn £20.39 Into Thousands Of Pounds While Enjoying A Refreshing Walk.

Kind Regards

John Harrison

PS…This is one of the simplest business models around and I’m more than certain that there is a lot of money to be made doing this.

As I say, find the right people at the right time and offer them the right product or service.

Here’s that link again:

How To Turn £20.39 Into Thousands Of Pounds While Enjoying A Refreshing Walk.