Business Over The Holidays

Stop Working!! Holiday Rant!

24/7/365 Hustle — Or Just Really Annoying?

Full Disclosure, I work over the holidays.

I love what I do, and although people think I’m crazy when I’m writing an article or working on a campaign over the holidays — it’s something I’ve always enjoyed.

My favorite thing about taking the time between December 24th — January 1st to catch up on some work is that everyone else is off. I relish the opportunity to get a chance to catch up on things that I’ve been putting off for far too long. For some people, turning on a computer between Christmas Eve and New Years is an alarming sign of a workaholic and lack of a work/life balance. For me, it’s therapy.

THAT BEING SAID.

I’ve never ever included anyone else in my overtime escapades. I have never, in all my years of working for myself or as part of an organization, tried to pitch someone a product over the holidays. I just assumed that this was common courtesy unless you were dealing with people who explicitly did not celebrate Christmas or New Years. These edge groups (I’m one of them, Chag Sameach) have become decreasingly prevalent in North America due to non-denominational holiday parties and the increasing amount of organizations offering time off (or reduced hours) from work, between mid-day December 24th to January 2nd, regardless of religious affiliation.

I was browsing LinkedIn on the 24th when I saw this.

Clearly, because I’m opinionated and love stirring the pot on the internet, I had to offer my own two cents.

Coincidently, this subject is so important to me that I decided to write an entire article about it on December 26th. I digress — I guess this is the pot calling the kettle black.

But — I wasn’t alone in my feelings towards pitching a product over the holidays.

As I was doing a little digging on this topic, I came across a piece by Campaign Live entitled “Should agencies refuse to pitch over the Christmas period?”. They interviewed executives from a variety of different industries and asked them how they felt about working on the holidays. Read some of their insights below. I thought I’d leave it here as it offers some great points of view on the subject from very senior (and I’d assume, hard working) individuals.

If you’re interested in checking out the complete article, you can check it out here. https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/agencies-refuse-pitch-christmas-period/1452687

When it’s all said and done, the point of this article is more to highlight my fascination with the opposing points of view on this topic. Something I thought was so black and white. I still stand by my LinkedIn rant, that you should always do business with an empathetic consideration for the situations of the ones you do business with. Some may argue that my opinion is soft, and that I’m not driven or #hustling, but it’s built strong, lasting (and profitable) relationships over the course of my career.

I’m very curious as to what you all think. Comment below and tell me why you should, or shouldn’t work and pitch clients over the holidays!

Hope you all have a safe, and happy holiday season and a prosperous new year full of health, wellbeing, and growth.

Why Should You Read My Blog?

I have a passion for motivating, inspiring and educating businesses on how to leverage emerging technologies and digital marketing to stand out from the noise and reach their target consumers and clients. With over 9 years in enterprise biz dev and take to market strategy, I have helped both start-ups and enterprise organizations navigate complex markets in both traditional industries as well as bleeding edge technology fields.

I’m a Forbes Contributor & Biz Dev Council member, a Hackernoon Contributor, an Entrepreneur, a Marketing & Biz Dev Head at Bedrock Affect and a huge nerd.

For more — make sure to check out my blog, Funnel Overload.

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Business Over The Holidays was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.