Coming up
What to post for the New Year
New Year's Day is a Friday, so the quiet reset runs straight into a weekend, say your piece before people fill the days with other plans.
Fri 1 Jan 2027the date 96 days to gofrom today 11 daysthe run-up
Pick your days and we write your own guide. Your first plan is free.
Pick your days below. Nothing is made until you say.
The run-up
Every day between now and then that is worth a post
Not one a day. These are the ones that do a job. What each is for is underneath it.
Mon 21 Dec 11 days before Write your first post now Decide your one New-Year message while December is still busy, so the start of January isn't a blank you scramble to fill.
Write this one →
Thu 24 Dec 8 days before Name the one real change People are in a change mood, so tell them the single new thing you're doing this year, a new opening time, a new line, anything true. One is believable; a list is not.
Write this one →
Sun 27 Dec 5 days before Point it at them Say what's better for the customer this year, not what's changing for you. 'Quicker mornings' beats 'we've reorganised the counter'.
Write this one →
Wed 30 Dec 2 days before Say when you're back A short, plain note of your first open day so anyone checking over the break knows. Quiet certainty is its own kind of welcome.
Write this one →
Fri 1 Jan The day Post on the day One calm, friendly line while the whole country is on its phone and unusually open to a fresh regular. No hard sell, just be there.
Write this one →
How many days will you post?
4
4 days, all free.
Your days
Dec 21 11 days to New Year Monday 21 December Write your first post now
Dec 24 8 days to New Year Thursday 24 December Name the one real change
Dec 30 2 days to New Year Wednesday 30 December Say when you're back
Jan 1 New Year day Friday 1 January Post on the day
The day itself is always one of them.
Written for · from About you
About you + a customer to write for
Your first plan this year, of 4 free. Nothing is posted anywhere.
The 99p pack: four more days on this plan. Paid once with a card. No account, no subscription.
Your plan · Halloween · 4 days Otley Barbers at Halloween Four days spread across the run-up, the day itself in. Each one is written for a barber in Chapel Allerton, and each one is a thing to think about while you work that day.
Kept on your profile Oct 11
20 days to Halloween Sunday 11 October · day 1 of 4
Suggested time · Sun 6 to 8 pm i Say it is coming
- One line, no photo: "Something is planned for the 31st."
- Photograph nothing yet. The wait is part of it.
- While you work: which dad would ask for a spooky colour spray for the kids? Note the name.
Why Sun 6 to 8 pm: Dads plan the week on Sunday night, after bedtime.
Everything on this card goes with it to What should I post?
Oct 17
14 days to Halloween Saturday 17 October · day 2 of 4
Suggested time · Sat 9 to 10 am i Show it half-made
- The pumpkin in the window before it is carved.
- The kids' cut offer half-written on the board behind you.
- While you work: ask two Saturday dads if they would book the 31st.
Why Sat 9 to 10 am: Saturday dads book the morning of, from the school car park.
Everything on this card goes with it to What should I post?
Oct 25
6 days to Halloween Sunday 25 October · day 3 of 4
Suggested time · Sun 6 to 8 pm i Show the proof
- The first kid with the Halloween colour, from behind, with the cape on.
- The chair by the window with the carved pumpkin on the counter.
- While you work: count the Saturday slots left and write the number down.
Why Sun 6 to 8 pm: Same slot as day one: they saw the first post here.
Everything on this card goes with it to What should I post?
Oct 31
Halloween day Saturday 31 October · day 4 of 4
Suggested time · Sat 8 am and 4 pm i The day itself, twice
- Morning: what is still free today, with the opening time in the picture.
- Late afternoon: the last of it, "two chairs left till six".
- While you work: one photo of the busiest moment for next year.
Why Sat 8 am and 4 pm: The morning post catches the planners, the afternoon one the ones who forgot.
Everything on this card goes with it to What should I post?
Want more days? The 99p pack adds four to this plan.
The idea most businesses miss
Become part of the new routine
Nir Eyal's Hooked model describes how something earns a place in a person's routine: a trigger, an easy first action, a small reward, then a little investment that draws them back. January is when people are rebuilding their routines from scratch. Give them an easy first visit and a reason to return, and you become the new habit rather than a one-off.
Nir Eyal, behavioural designer and author of Hooked · Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products, Portfolio/Penguin, 2014
Questions
The questions people ask
- Isn't everyone sick of 'New Year, new you'?
- Yes, so don't say it. Say the one real thing that is genuinely different about your place this year. Specific always beats slogan.
- We're shut on New Year's Day. Does this still apply?
- Completely. The post isn't 'come in today', it's 'here's what we're about this year, see you when we open'. Just say your first open day clearly.
- I run a trade van, not a shop.
- January is when people finally book the job they kept putting off. A simple 'taking bookings for the year' post catches them while they're in a sorting-things-out mood.
The other dates worth the effort
Mon 25 Jan 2027 Burns Night 120 days to go It falls on a Monday, a slow night you can own, a proper supper gives people a reason to come out midweek. 5 posts to make →
Thu 31 Dec 2026 New Year's Eve 95 days to go Everyone posts "Happy New Year". The ones worth reading say thank you, and make the year ahead about the customer, not themselves. 5 posts to make → Everything else The whole calendar
The rest of this year and all of next, with the British ones in the right place.
Open the calendar →