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#BizChats Reveals Must-Have Holiday Business Tips for Entrepreneurs

Tired of shaking in your cute little Louboutins every time the holidays swing? Well, these holiday business tips will help you stay shake-free.

Last week I had the pleasure to join Mashable Business and Staples in a LIVE Twitter chat to discuss "How Small Businesses Can 'Sleigh' The Holiday Seasons" with fellow entrepreneurs: Amy Jo Martin, founder and CEO of Digital Royalty, Doug and Polly White, writers of Entrepreneur Magazine, Mari Smith, Facebook marketing expert, and social media guru, Martin Jones, sr. social media and content marketing manager and Matthew Toren, owner of iSmallBusiness.com, Kidpreneurs.org, writer at Entrepreneur and overall master entrepreneur.

Question One: What are major holiday marketing trends every small business should pay attention to this year?

Matthew Toren @matthewtoren A1: According to the NRF, 41.6% of holiday shopping will be done online. Make sure your mobile shopping experience is top notch! #bizchats

Mari Smith @MariSmith A1. Video, video, video! Facebook and Instagram video ads. Short. Fun. Entertaining. Subtitles! #bizchats

Mobile-friendly offers. Quick, simple. Impulse buys. Ideal gifts. Well-targeted! #bizchats

Debbi King @DebbiKing A1: That Christmas shopping is earlier than ever. If you wait, you may get left behind. #BizChats

Doug and Polly White @letgotogrow A1 Rule #1 - You must have an online/ecommerce presence that is super easy for your customers to use #BizChats

Retailers should have a robust presence on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest – if you don’t know how – find out #BizChats

Jennifer Baker @JenniferBakerCo A1: I think listening and responding to customer service via social is important! #BizChats

Terence John Cortez @theterencejohn Make sure you're well-prepared for the surge of people online and offline. Stock well according to forecast! #BizChats

Amy Jo Martin @AmyJoMartin Q1 <-> A1: Humanize your brand. 200 million online consumers use ad blockers. 79% feel brands are too intrusive. So be real. #BizChats

Nicole Perez @nicole_perez1 A1. Christmas shopping is going to be earlier. Make sure online site is where it should be #bizchats

Amanda Webb @Spiderworking A1 have a good measurement plan in place so you will know early on if you need to adjust your strategy #bizchats

Brenden Dilley @Hublife A1 Online presence, ads, promotions etc... will make or break you this year (and beyond). The easier to check out the better. #BizChats

Maureen Jann @MaureenOnPoint A1b: Meet customer expectations. Free shipping and great deals are a must have to compete in a crowded

Question Two: What are your favorite examples of businesses 'winning' the holiday season?

Marley Majcher @ThePartyGoddess
A2 Employees wanting to go the extra mile. When your staff is tired but they still have the "bring it" attitude, you're golden. #bizchats

A2 Obviously, great sales, above and beyond forecasts. Gushing customers, not just happy ones. Evangelists. #BizChats

Ideon @ClickIdeon A2 Amazon opening holiday sales weeks early! REI and Nordstrom no Black Friday. Starbucks clean-design cups...#BizChats

A2b Amazon's new Prime Now, same day delivery for the season in 24 metro areas! #BizChats

Brenden Dilley @Hublife
A2 - Pumpkin Spice EVERYTHING for a 700% increase in sales. Lol! But seriously, brands like @Starbucks and @DunkinDonuts kill it. #BizChats

Alex Gaskins @AlexGaskins
A2. When businesses get into the spirit by giving back. #BizChats

Matthew Toren @matthewtoren
A2: #winning the early holiday shoppers, watch the 30 second vid Kmart Holiday Layaway Commercial | Kmart Ridiculous #BizChats

The ad from @kmart, entitled “Ridiculous,” is poking fun at how crazy it seems to start thinking about the holidays this early #BizChats

Doug and Polly White @letgotogrow
A2 We look for organizations that give back to their local community and spend our dollars with those companies #BizChats

Mari Smith @MariSmith
A2: Businesses that engage, involve, include their community. Invite interaction. #bizchats

Amy Jo Martin @AmyJoMartin
Q2: @REI is closed Black Fri & paying employees to spend time w/ family. Strong statement. I'll happliy spend $ w/ @REI Cyber Mon #BizChats

Amanda Webb @Spiderworking A2 I always start with Etsy, love supporting the small businesses and great different gifts #BizChats

Doug and Polly White @letgotogrow
A2 Love what @Nordstrom is doing – putting off Christmas until after Thanksgiving – employees have the day off #BizChats

Martin Jones @martinjonesaz
Q2 --> A2 Small business can win the holiday season with a combination of convenience, service, and customer experience. #BizChats

Question Three: What are the symptoms a small business shows when it has not optimized its business for the holiday season?

Marley Majcher @ThePartyGoddess
A3 You feel behind and overwhelmed and are searching and scratching for a strategy mid season #bizchats @mashbusiness

No excitement/buzz from your tribe, your sales aren't there, you're stressed!

A strategy is the easiest way 2chart your course w/a simple strategy that you can actually execute, better than a massive 1 #bizchats

Martin Jones @martinjonesaz
A3 - Not understanding the importance of mobile to holiday shoppers. #BizChats

A3 The best time to connect w/ holiday shoppers is in the months leading up to the holiday season - not once it begins #BizChats

Matthew Toren @matthewtoren
A3: Failing to measure your marketing. Focus your attention on refining your online marketing to best suit your customers. #BizChats

Maureen Jann @MaureenOnPoint
A3: Anticipating demand, ensuring they have the infrastructure to glean insights from customer activity, start advertising too late. #BizChats

Digital Marketing KC @DMI_KC A3: Confusion from employees, inability to meet demand, slow response & at the end of the season, a loss in revenue. #BizChats

Amy Jo Martin @AmyJoMartin
Q3 <-> A3: Top Issues: Lack of customer service (responses) & brands can't break through noise and drown in the sea of sameness. #BizChats

Doug and Polly White @letgotogrow
A3 Worse - Merchandize sold out on December 1 – don’t have enough stock to get through the holidays #BizChats

Sales are flat or down. Staffing too high for traffic. Merchandize on the shelf. #BizChats

Cashiers are overwhelmed if staffing is too low, improper training leads to poor customer service #BizChats

Mari Smith @MariSmith A3: Not deploying additional social customer care team members. Insufficient training of staff to manage demand. #bizchats

Facebook & Twitter cover images not updated for the Holidays. No special offers. #bizchats

Picatic Toronto @PicaticTO
A3: Understaffing, slow service, delayed shipping, products out of stock,disgruntled staff- no xmas music loop. #BizChats @mashbusiness

Ashley N Santos @ashi1104 A3: Not utilizing social media for promos and contests. This is very important, especially for #SmallBizSat #BizChats

Amanda Webb @Spiderworking A3 a slow website is like a massive queue in a shop. Too many people not enough staff/bandwith #bizchats

Terence John Cortez @theterencejohn A3 Falling back and getting late into making an impression towards the busy consumers! #BizChats

Erin Blaskie @ErinBlaskie A3: inability to fulfill orders in a timely fashion, less staff than they need & poor customer support. #BizChats

Jennifer Baker @JenniferBakerCo A3: Automation. Lack of engagement. Robotic messages. #BizChats

Kathleen Burns @katbu
A3: Lack of an online presence, terrible online shopping cart or website UI, no awareness of Cyber Monday deals. #BizChats

Ideon @ClickIdeon A3 Lack of customer engagement across channels. No omnichannel. Not enough inventory. #BizChats

But wait, there's more!

Good news! You are only half way through the invaluable holiday business tips gleaned from Mashable's #BizChats discussion! Questions 4-8 are waiting for you! Read Part 2 of this article now!