When you are on a long journey, there are many twists and turns that require critical decisions. Once you've hit the final miles, your choices become even more important.

In business, this means that the end of the year may require you to make some last-minute (but essential) moves in order to generate additional income and finish 2024 strong.

The good news is that you still have time for it finish strong.

In my experience taking a business from nothing to over $100 million in annual revenue, the last quarter can get intense. Here are my best words of wisdom to make the final weeks of the year as successful as possible.

Related: How to: End the year on a high

Look back at your marketing choices to learn and make positive changes

In 1975, Edward Packard's Choose your adventure books were published. The series allowed the reader to choose from a multitude of paths within a specific story. Each choice of the reader would lead to a different ending to the story.

Why did this series become so popular and sell more than 270 million copies worldwide? This is because people want to be in control of their own destiny; to write their stories. First, ask yourself: What do I want to accomplish this year? Next, ask: What have I already learned so far that will help me reach that conclusion?

Have you followed yours marketing results? If so, pull the data and start investigating. Go beyond the channel that generates the most results. Which tactic generates more customers? More referrals? The biggest income? Look beyond the calendar year if you can and compare year-over-year trends.

If you let your intuition guide you, it's time to get started tracking your marketing. Feelings are no substitute for real data.

In 2023, we did our research and found that direct mail delivers six times more revenue per customer than digital advertising. We figured this out by analyzing 114,373 leads and which of them converted to sales that year, and found that if we divided the revenue by the total number of customers, we made $229.41 per postcard lead versus $37.09 for each pay-per-click lead.

After this realization, we increased by 20,000 the number of postcards we post every week advertising our services. It is your responsibility to do the work and discover what needs to change for positive growth.

For example, did Facebook ads not give you the revenue you expected? You can reinvest the money you planned to spend in December on digital advertising and redirect it to other marketing avenues such as direct mail or related television commercials.

The truth is, there really are no mistakes, only lessons learned. It is up to you to decide whether to make changes for a better result.

Consolidate your remaining resources and dedicate them to the marketing channel with the highest ROI

Each year, about 3,000 people hike the Appalachian Trail, but only a quarter of hikers finish. A major reason climbers fail is that they run out of supplies. Similarly, in business, owners may face challenges during the year that drain their resources.

If you feel like you're struggling in the last quarter of the year, it's time to get what you've got left. your budget and any other available loans or set aside funds and use them to market your business.

Which marketing strategies yielded the highest return on investment? Whatever you have left over from your marketing budget should go straight that tactic. If you don't have much left over from your annual budget, consider taking money from other sources to invest in your marketing to bring in more leads.

It could be something as simple as finding some savings by canceling a monthly membership. Whatever you choose to do, put as much money into it as possible marketing tactics that have consistently given results. Then next year, you'll have more income to invest back into your business for 2025 or take home with you.

Related: What I learned from spending 5.9 million on marketing last year

Take advantage of potential tax savings by prepaying for next year's marketing

The end of the journey isn't just about finishing strong—it's also about setting yourself up for future success. By allocating some of the profits you made in 2024 to marketing in 2025 before the end of the year, you're getting ahead of the game. Not only are you entering the new year prepared, but you're also getting the added benefit of reducing your tax burden for 2024 when you reinvest taxable profits back into your business and marketing.

In my business, PostcardManiawe offer huge discounts on bulk orders, which many business owners take advantage of before the end of the year. They simply add up how much marketing they think they'll need for the next year and pre-purchase at a discount.

If you're a B2B business, you can run a similar offer by encouraging your customers to pre-order what they'll need next year so they can get the current year's tax write-off.

If you want to target customers every year with a year-end offer, you can use automated direct mail to target them faster. After setting up direct mail automation once, postcards or letters are automatically sent each year based on criteria you set. This saves you time and increases revenue by ensuring that this happens every year without fail.

Related: The 4 marketing triggers you need to set up now to recharge your New Year

At the end of the year, it's satisfying to say you gave it your all; You did the best you could SOuRCES available. Avoid regret by considering these marketing paths to success, and you'll be happy with the ending you've always wanted to write.