ARE YOU SIRIUS? This week, Bob offers tips on how to ramp up for business during the summer slump.

I got curious about why this time of year is called the "Dog Days of Summer", so I did what anyone who's curious does. I went to Google and found that the "Dog Days" are named for Sirius, the dog star that's brightest from early July through early September, when the heat of summer gets the best of us in the northern hemisphere. Webster's Dictionary refers to the Dog Days as a period of stagnation or inactivity. For various reasons, this period of stagnation or inactivity also occurs in business. People are on vacation, kids are home from school, and many businesses, whether intentional or not, tend to go into a more relaxed mode.

Business may work at a slower pace, so this may also be an ideal time to prepare for the upswing that occurs after Labor Day. Smart business thinking may be to use this time for things that fall by the wayside during the busier months; like employee training, updating websites, working on branding and other internal but important stuff that gets cast aside when business is humming.

Here's a short list to go from Sirius-ly slow to stimulating business during the Dog Days of Summer:

• Dive Into Social Media - I -- If you've just dipped a business toe into Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media, go head first, full-on in. Set up your social media campaign for fall 2012 before it gets buried for another year. Check out some of the tools that make management of your social media easier, such as HootSuite or Roost. Need help? Call on an expert to get you started. Shamrock has a great team, in case you want to get it right, from the start.
• Dive Into Social Media - II -- Have your sales and marketing people check out Twitter and Facebook to see what your competition is doing, or to see what customers are saying about your company. Connect with your LinkedIn sources and give them a "first look" at what's happening at your company. Invite discussion with LinkedIn network sources.
• Phone It In -- The telephone still is, and always will be, a good resource for sales. Call a prospect. Ask how their summer is going. Invite a prospect to a baseball game or a cookout. At worst, you may have to leave a voicemail message just to say you're thinking of them.
• Hit One Out of the Park -- Networking is ongoing, regardless of the weather. The venue may change from a meal with potential customers at a warm and cozy restaurant to a neighbor's backyard barbeque, but summer's no reason to stop networking. Help your employees to have a good elevator pitch about your company -- and reward them for a homerun. A summer contest for best networking ideas can easily pump up the energy at work.
• Steam Up Your Website -- Often overlooked when work gets crazy, websites can get tired-looking quickly. Challenge your team to come up with ways to energize your website before the fall deluge sets in. Update your news link. Add a new blog post. Make people want to visit your new site!
• Start a Summer Book Club -- Excite your sales team with a new sales book to get their juices flowing for fall. Zero Time Selling, High Profit Selling, SNAP Selling, are recent books on sales that have generated great reviews.

ONE LAST THING...

Enjoy what's left of summer. We all need a little R&R this time of year!