I must be severely behind the times because I only heard of Cyber Monday  a week ago when a friend referred to it jokingly in a Hanukkah party invitation.

November-December is an especially popular time to offer your goods and services at a discount simply because everyone else is doing it. Running promotions at times when there's a lot of demand is an obvious option, but inevitably, you're stuck with a lot of competition. Two solutions present themselves: you can either plan ahead for the holiday season and make sure your customers know there is a real incentive to choosing you, or save your aggressive promotional efforts to other points in the year where you can truly stand out - if you can find some relevance to your product line and market, might I suggest the perennially favored Flag Day?

But seriously - seasonal offers have a number of benefits. They're opportunities to attract attention and bring in new business. Providing you've done proper analysis and forecasting, they can bring in additional revenue to increase annual margins. Your regular customers have a reason to look you up if they know you constantly review your offers, and it gives you a reason to get in touch with them...with good reason.

Of course, the idea that promotions even have to coincide with seasons sounds a bit outdated when you consider that the internet's guerrilla ethos has encouraged adorably irreverent efforts such as these. However, a dependable promotions calendar can be a trusted friend to both you and your customers in this age of rampant wit and irreverence.

Just remember:

• Focus on what is interesting to your target audience
• Draw up a schedule in advance so you can ensure variety throughout the year
• Stand out from the competition - key if you refuse to bow to the pressures of November-December
• Do your sums first to ensure profit projections are realistic