Summer is a season of change for many small businesses. School's out, vacations are in, and customer behavior shifts as people embrace the warmer weather and longer days. For some businesses, it’s a time of enormous revenue; for others, it can herald a long dry spell.

But with a bit of planning and creativity, summer can also be a season of growth and opportunity no matter what type of business you are in (except maybe snow plowing).

Here are a few ideas that you can start thinking about today.

This is not a comment on the actual item or service you sell but in how you present it. If you’re not using your audience’s language and talking to a need they’ve identified, you’re fighting a marketing battle, and you need to change that today.