With the dog days of summer upon us, many businesses are changing. Some businesses dry up during the summer, perhaps as a consequence of working in a tourism town or a college town where much of the population leaves for summer. On the other hand, some businesses notice an influx of new business in the summer for much the same reasons. Regardless of where your business stands in the heatwave to come, there’s a few things you can do to market to summer sales.

Find a niche for your product that fits for summer - This is tough if you sell jackets and sleds, but many other product lines can cater to summer customers even if they haven’t before. For instance, lets say you sell personal electronics, like iPods. People use them year round, but think of all of the ways they can be used in the summer. Perhaps you can offer special sports straps to make them easier to use while running or doing other active outdoor summer sports. Lets say your company sells gourmet teas. You could offer summer-specific blends, such as “Dogs Days of August Brew”. A dash of lemon zest and a twist of line and your every day tea is now a summer treat.

Hone in on your customer base and make the most of it – If your town dwindles in population because all of the college kids have gone home for the summer, cater to who’s left. You’ll still have business people, retired folks and the stay-at-home-moms to tend to. Promote with them in mind.

If you truly can’t capitalize on summer, limit your expenses – Some of us do sell snow shoes and hot cocoa, and there’s not a lot you can do with those things in summer. If you’re going to stay open and you can’t update or change your product lines, consider cutting your hours and minimizing your staff. The less you spend now while things are slow, the more you’ll have available to ramp up for your prime season.

Need more help beating the heat of slumping summer sales? Consider an outdoor display for your storefront. This will help draw in most customers and soften the blow of a slowing economy.