As we reach the middle of July, most of us have probably gone through the slowest time of the year in our businesses because of our customers, employees and partners taking vacations. This year, rather than taking a reactionary "wait and see" approach to climbing out of your seasonal decline, why not be proactive and reach out to your consumers before your competitors have an opportunity?

Now is the time to start preparing for when our consumers return from their vacations, refreshed and recharged. Parents are buying back to school clothes and supplies for their children, employees are buying new clothes and training materials for their climb up the corporate ladder, and business owners are investing in all sorts of products and services to help foster the growth of their company. Are you ready to capitalize on it?

Most schools start near the end of August (with the exception of year-round schools, which start near the end of July) so you should expect that most families will be back home around the middle of the month. You should expect most businesses to be back in full operation around the same time frame. In order to begin reaching these consumers before your competitors do, you're going to have to act fast, preparing any newspaper or television advertising, along with any direct mail and other marketing channels you plan to utilize. Remember one thing though �" be realistic with your graphic designer...just because you've waited until the last minute doesn't mean that they should have to jump through fiery hoops.

The bottom line here, is to get your seasonal marketing out there before your competitors do, and keep it going as intense as your budget allows. For the highest ROI, it's better to reach a smaller, more targeted audience consistently than it is to reach a larger, less targeted audience a few times. Get moving on this, because pretty soon we'll have to start getting ready for Christmas!