Everything gets busy before Christmas and the mail can take longer than normal because there are more letters, cards and packages going through the post. I know that most orders get to my customers in 2-3 working days after I take it to the post office, but there can be delays in December.

My cut off date is at least a week before Christmas for items I have in stock. Custom orders need to be in earlier than that so I have plenty of time to make them up, and source paper if I need it.

If orders are local, people can pick them up if necessary, but I make it clear that anything ordered after the cut off date means there is no guarantee the order will arrive in time for Christmas, even with Express Post (and that costs extra).

I've found that having this cut off date can reduce the number of orders that get there late, last year there was one or two that arrived after Christmas day because customers left it too late to order.

One thing I like to do for Christmas is to tweak my blog template so that it's festive. This year, I'm working on my header using photos from the Melbourne Christmas last year, including the big Christmas tree in the city centre and the various decorations we saw. I'm still playing with it, but it's already looking great.

I also plan to use similar images on my Facebook cover page and I've updated my headshot to have a picture of me in a Santa hat.

My aim is to have all this ready to go for the start of December, and change it back after Christmas.

It's fun to decorate my blog for Christmas, but I know I must remember to change it again as soon as possible after Christmas so that it doesn't become out dated. This is a bit like Erica's Christmas Windows, but I don't just change an image on my home page…

Do you change your blog template for Christmas?

Linking this post up with Tina Gray dot me for their Christmas blog hop.

Deck the halls with boughs of holly, Fa La La La La, La La La La…

It's nearly Christmas, and it means that I will have a break from teaching for a while. To mark the end of the year, I host a Christmas Concert for all my students.

I book in a Saturday afternoon for the concert and invite all the parents. I ask for an RSVP as early as possible so that the children have plenty of time to prepare their pieces.

The students choose two or three pieces to perform and we work on these during the lessons leading up to the concert. These are songs the children have been working on during the year and that they enjoy playing.

Closer to the day, I plan a rough program and let the students know when they are playing. If I'm organised enough, I write up the program on a white board. I set up the lounge room with chairs for the audience and the students sit on the floor at the front. After the performance, I serve afternoon tea. Some of the parents bring a plate of food to share. During afternoon tea, I put some Christmas music on the CD player. I also make sure our Christmas decorations are up in time for the concert.

This is a lovely way to end the year and the parents can see what their children have been learning. It's also a great opportunity for the students to perform, even my beginner students play something, and to hear each other play.

I know this tip won't apply to everyone, but it's something special I do. Maybe there is some other way you can showcase your business to your customers at Christmas.

Yours in Music, Rani.

One thing I do at Christmas is purchase charity Christmas gifts for my suppliers. How this works is that I go to a registered charity and purchase a goat or school supplies for someone in a Third World Country, and send a card to my suppliers letting them know about this purchase.

This is a wonderful way to support acknowledge my suppliers and give them something more than a card, without worrying that they don't like chocolates, drink wine, or send them something else inappropriate. My suppliers have also told me that they appreciate the cards and the thought.

I use Tear Australia's Really Useful Gifts Catalogue and choose a gift value based on the supplier. I also choose gifts for my kids teachers from here too. There are other charities that offer gifts too, this is the one that I use.

Occasionally I also give these to customers, however I prefer to just send them a card.

Life's a party  Tina

One Saturday afternoon when my husband is off with his mates and my Mum can take the kids and I send an exclusive invitation to everyone who has hosted a party during the year. In many ways, it runs like my school holiday Open House, but this is only for my hostesses.

I do what I can to get a special gift for each of them, I can usually get some samples or end of season stock items that I wrap. Where I know a hostesses has a particular interest in something, I do my best to give her that.

This is also an opportunity for my hostesses to do some Christmas shopping before the rush. Generally I hold this party before I give everyone the Christmas catalogue so it is a special preview showing especially for them.

I also make up some extra special offers for them, both for ordering something and for making a party booking. I also have some fun Christmas themed games and do a Mystery Hostess.

The am of this (as well as getting some sales in the lead up to Christmas) is to say Thank You to my hostesses for supporting my business. They feel special and appreciated. It's a nice thing to do to show them how much they mean to me, after all, if there are no parties, I don't have a business.

Do you spoil your hostesses at Christmas time?

Party on!

I learned my lesson. Since then, I work on my Christmas over the course of the year. Every time I spend time cutting and sewing, I prepare one or two Christmas t-shirts.

By doing this, I have stock already prepared, ready for the Christmas rush, so I don't spend all night sewing my Christmas t-shirts. Personalised t-shirts are still available, but as much as possible, I try and have the basic designs done ready to add the personalisation.

This saves me a lot of time and stress, and means that I am ready to go when people order. I also play with some new designs during the year in my quieter times so they are also ready to go for the Christmas markets.

My tip: if you make your own stock, spread the making of it through the year.

One thing we do to make them a little more special is include a Christmas sticker on the outside of the envelope. My kids have a lot of fun sticking these on. For extra special customers, they may put more than one sticker on. I make it clear that the stickers must not go over the clients address, the return address or the space where the stamp goes.

I pick them up at cheap shops in the lead up to Christmas as well as in the post Christmas sales. I like ones that are small and shiny as they are not obtrusive and still look good.

This is a small thing that we like to do that helps get us in the Christmas spirit, gets the kids involved and helps things be a little more special.

I hope this is helpful for your business. Blog again soon.

Caylie    (just cos this post is about envelopes!)

The list is constantly growing, so I make sure I get ready early. I either buy them in the Boxing Day sales or buy charity cards. I have a list of people I want to send cards to, and I start writing them about now. Every night I just do a few cards. Writing them this way saves my hand, and it gets them all done. They aren't posted until the start of December at the earliest, usually sent around the second week.

To further save money, I make sure they all have "Card Only" written on them so I can get cheaper postage.

I prefer sending (and receiving) cards in the mail than an email. It's that little bit special.

I do the same for my business. In the lead up to the sales, I write a list of what I want – how many cards (I usually factor in at least a 10% increase in cards from the current year), the colour of wrapping paper, if I need any decorations for my stall at Christmas markets. This means I know what I'm looking for and don't spend all day wandering a busy shopping centre without knowing what I need.

If I have time, I scope out the shops so I have an idea of where to go on Boxing Day.

When the big day arrives, my hubby drops me off so we don't have to worry about parking and I call him when I'm done.

Back at home, I put everything away in a place where I will find it again easily the following year.

As Christmas approaches, I get my stash of cards and goodies out and I'm ready to go. Not only am I organised, but I've also saved myself a heap of money!

Enjoy your Christmas.

Jenna

Last year, they inspired me to create Christmas windows for my business. I don't have a shop front, at least not in the traditional sense. My website is my shop front, so I created an image out of nappies and made it look like a Christmas tree, complete with tinsel and a star on top. It looked great and gave my site a Christmas feel.

I'm in the process of designing something different for this year. I haven't quite decided what it will look like yet, but it's coming together. This year, I plan to print out some of the photo's and use them as Christmas cards too.

My plan is to create a Christmas window image every year and have my customers looking forward to the reveal, much like the Myer Christmas Windows bring excitement to Melbourne.

I you do a Christmas window for your business, I would love to see what you've done. Please share your links in the comments.

Love, Erica.

Can you believe how quickly this year has gone? I can't. I know there are Christmas decorations up in the shops and people are already starting to promote Christmas gifts. We may be getting in a bit late to help you with Christmas promotions for your business, but this week we will start sharing some Christmas tips to help you.

We hope these ideas are useful to you, even if it's not for this year, it could be for next year. Then again, with some of these ideas, it's not too late, especially as it's still the end of October…

All the best with your Christmas promotions.

I run an event planning business, organising parties, workshops and any other event that comes my way. I have a team of people who work with me that I outsource to, such as Freya with her lolly bars.

It all started when I was invited to help a friend with her daughters 21st birthday party. It was a huge success and looked amazing. After that, I got calls from some of her friends wanting help with their parties, and a business was born.

I'm looking forward to sharing some of my tips with all of you on this blog, and I hope they will help you with your businesses too.

Heather is already using the sign off "Party on!", so I'll need to think of something else.

Catch you all another time.

TIna