At this time of year, we see merchants who have products geared towards the holidays go into hibernation until next October. But should seasonal sellers be resting on their laurels during the off-season? (We think not.) Are there things seasonal sellers can be doing now to increase year round AND seasonal revenues? (Yes, and we’ll tell you about what we’ve seen work below.)

Here are our suggestions for selling your products and building your business off season…

Provide a discount on off-season items. It's the most obvious choice, but it works. An off-season discount, be it on the products themselves or on shipping, can encourage buyers to purchase your products all year round. Or in place of a discount, you can combine your products into an

Consider reworking your online shop layout. Once the season passes, you should move most of your seasonal offerings out of the spotlight to make room for the items that have the best chance of selling, but don’t remove them from your page completely. Consider leaving a slot or two up front to spotlight new, seasonal items well before October so buyers can learn about new and trendy products, and so you can get their opinions on them before the season is in full swing. And you will likely find that novel or discounted items are scooped up at unexpected times.

Change up your messaging. You can also move into a more niche market during the off-season. Look over your product and consider which ones have a strong chance of selling all year round, and then market these products in a fresh, non-seasonal way in the holiday off-season. You’ll need to do some out of the box brainstorming for this, but it could open up a whole new market for your product and breathe life into your shop.

Take pumpkin carving tools for example. While those scream Halloween, you could certainly sell them to carve other objects. My grandfather used to carve a hollow whale out of a watermelon and then fill it with fruit. That’s a great idea for summer gathering, right?

Stay social. No matter the nature of your shop, you should maintain a social media presence year round. Building community doesn’t stop after the season ends, you need to continue to engage and remind buyers of your products. But also consider creating content that can mimic the tone, character and graphic nature of your shop without pushing a product. If folks are endeared to your brand, they’ll be more likely to support you, and giving your brand time to take hold year-round and you’ll be in a much better position come October/November.