Out here on the frozen prairie, things slow down around the winter solstice – people seem to have better things to do than bring their problems to an attorney (those are saved for the new year). On the plus side, this brief respite provides time for reflection and planning, though the unseasonably hospitable weather is making the task a bit more difficult – it is far easier to haul out and review business and marketing plans when there are heaps of snow and frigid temperatures lurking outside the climate controlled confines of the office.

While taking stock of where you’ve been is useful – how else can you figure out what worked and what didn’t – the real point of the exercise is not figure out where you want to go from here and how you are going to get there. There is something about long nights and few interruptions to make thinking about marketing quite attractive. And thinking is the first step toward cheap effective marketing.

Wishing you happy holidays and a profitable 2012