We’re heading into the final stretch of Q2 and summer is right around the corner. That means it’s almost time for you to set your intentions for arguably one of the most important quarters of your business… July through September.
Q3 is a powerful time in your business. Not only is it a chance for you to course correct based on where you’re at with your annual goals, but it’s also your opportunity to get prepped and ready for Q4.
I know, it sounds like a lot of brain power and responsibility for a time of the year where we’d rather focus on beach days and bbqs. But I promise, it doesn’t require you to sacrifice your entire summer. It’s more about getting the brainstorming out of the way in advance, so you can slowly implement whatever it is you uncover.
Then, you can feel confident knowing every minute that you spend working on your business is a powerful one, because you’re only doing exactly what you should be doing.
So today I’m giving you the 6 moves worth your time for the back half of the year. The things to double down on, and a few things to drop so you actually have room for them.
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Do a Mid-year Check-in Against the Goals You Set in January
This is the starting point, because it should be a guide for what you need to focus on moving forward. And make sure you actually look at your numbers. It’s not about what this year has felt like, it’s about the truth in the performance of your business.
Some of you will be pleasantly surprised and others will be disappointed. It’s all part of the game, don’t stress too much over it. Remember to focus on controlling the things you can control.
Where are you right now compared to the annual goal you set in January? Are you ahead, on track, or behind? And more importantly, why?
Look at your revenue, but don’t stop there. Look at your margin too. Because I’ve seen plenty of store owners hit a revenue number they’re proud of while their profit quietly got eaten alive by discounting, rising product costs, or shipping. Maybe you’ve gotten more new customers this year but they’re spending less and so you’re doing more work in fulfillment while making less money.
While you’re there, look at your product sales. What’s actually selling and making you money? What’s sitting and collecting dust?
Stop putting effort into the products that are holding your cash hostage and focus on propping up your biggest money makers. Do what you can to turn that old inventory into cash – even if it means selling it as a lot on eBay or finding a destash group on Facebook. Get as much cash out of it as you can so you can reinvest it into something else.
Grow Your Email List
This is your last real runway before Q4. While the majority of your sales will come from customers who engaged with you during the first half of the year, there’s still time in Q3 to attract new people and give them a great experience with your business and product so they’ll want to buy from you again during the holiday season.
This quarter, I want you to make list growth an active priority. That means being intentional and consistent with your strategy. It could look like running a pre-launch event, refreshing your pop-up offer, creating a lead magnet that directly leads into what you sell, partnering with someone to get in front of new audiences, or starting paid ads. Whatever fits your business. The specific tactic matters less than the commitment to doing it now.
Get Your Email Engine Ready for the Rush
While your campaign emails will do a lot of heavy lifting, so will your automations. These are running in the background for you 24/7 nurturing and converting your customers whether you’re actively working, sitting on the beach, or taking that holiday trip.
Right now, while things are a little calmer, is the time to go in and audit your flows. Are they turned on? I can’t tell you how many clients and students I’ve worked with who took the time to create a flow but didn’t turn it on. Are they saying the right thing? Are you featuring your best sellers, are they pointing to products you don’t even sell anymore, are they actually speaking to the customer you’re attracting?
The more intentional your automations are, the more impactful they will be all year long. If you need help with this, there’s a freebie in the eCommerce Badassery vault that will get you through the MVP of your email automations. For my more advanced and higher traffic businesses, snag Email Badassery. There’s a self-study and a live support version. I’ll stick a link in the show notes.
Fix Your Conversion Leaks While Traffic is Calm
When it comes to your website, every little leak, a confusing product page, a poor navigation menu, giant collections without filters… these are costing you a little bit of money on every single visitor.
In the summer, when traffic is typically slower for product-based businesses, this equates to a slow drip. When Q4 hits and you’ve got a ton more visitors, that drip becomes a flood.
Your job, fix the leak before it turns into a flood.
Look at your home page, your navigation menu, your product pages, etc. Make sure it’s optimized to help your customer find their way around and convert.
Need to learn more about optimizing your website? Make sure you tune into the Badass Basics series I published on the podcast, it starts with episode 369.
Start Your Q4 Preparation
This is the one that separates the people who have a calm, profitable Q4 from the people who spend October and November in a constant state of panic.
Over the years running eCommerce Badassery and working with so many product-based business owners, you typically don’t hear me get into the nitty gritty of Q4 planning until around August. And that’s because from what I’ve seen, most small product-based business owners just aren’t in the headspace to talk about it before then.
But, realistically, you should be starting your holiday planning now. And while we’re not going to get too deep into specifics today – I already have a bunch of episodes I’ll stick links in the show notes for you – I do want to make sure it’s on your radar Q3.
So, what does it mean to start your Q4 planning now?
First, gift guides. If you want to be featured in holiday gift guides, whether that’s a blog, a magazine, an influencer, or a local publication, those editors are planning their content months ahead. The time to pitch is now, in the summer, not in November when the guides are already published. Make a list of the gift guides you’d love to be in and start reaching out.
Second, partners and collaborations. Is there someone whose audience would love your products? A complementary brand you could do a bundle or a giveaway with? Those relationships take time to build and coordinate. Line them up now so they’re ready to go when the season hits.
Third, rough out your offers and your promo calendar. You don’t have to have every email written and every graphic designed. You just need the skeleton. What are you going to promote, and roughly when? Black Friday, Cyber Monday, your holiday collection launch, any sales or bundles in between. Getting the calendar down on paper now means you’re not inventing your entire Q4 strategy on the fly.
Fourth, your inventory planning. Whether you bring in holiday specific products or just have a long lead time on your main items, the more time you spend planning and getting things in place now, the less stressed you’ll be later on. Of course, you don’t want to blow your entire Q4 budget now, always leave yourself a little cushion to react to new trends, etc. but you should planned ahead for your products assortment.
Lastly, your wholesale strategy. Whether you want to increase the number of retailers you work with, reactivate dormant ones, or just want to make sure your existing retailers know what’s available to them for the holiday season, now is the time to dig into your wholesale strategy. There’s a reason Faire market happens in July, ya know?
This is the “brainstorm now, implement slowly” move I mentioned at the top. Do the thinking this summer, in little pockets of time, and you get to spend the fall calmly executing a plan instead of frantically making one up.
Cut the Busywork that Won’t Move Your Q4 Results
This is probably the most important one on the list. Everything we’ve talked about takes time and focus. And I also want you to enjoy your summer instead of feeling like a slave to your business. Most of us don’t have a spare 10 hours a week lying around so you have to make room.
It’s time to take a long hard look at where you’ve been spending your time and whether or not you should continue doing it.
And it’s super important that you’re honest with yourself because it’s a lot easier to talk ourselves into continuing to do shit that doesn’t really matter… I really don’t know what that’s about.
This might look like that social platform you keep forcing yourself to post on even though it hasn’t driven a single sale. The tasks you do because you think you’re supposed to, not because they’re actually contributing to your business. The fiddling, tweaking, and reorganizing that feels productive but doesn’t move a number that matters.
If you’re still not sure, here’s a filter you can use to run through everything that’s currently taking up your time. Will this make a positive impact on my results in Q4? Seriously, that’s the filter.
If it doesn’t pass the filter, it doesn’t deserve your time this quarter. Give yourself permission to stop, pause, or simplify.
This is the “do less, make more” philosophy in action. The back half of the year isn’t about cramming more onto your plate. It’s about clearing space for the handful of things that genuinely drive your results, and letting go of the rest.
You won’t be able to do the most impactful things, if all your time is spent on busywork that doesn’t really matter.
Alright so let’s wrap this up.
Six moves for the strongest second half of 2026. Do your mid-year check-in. Grow your list while you still have runway. Get your email flows ready. Fix your website leaks while it’s quiet. Start your Q4 prep early. And cut the busywork that’s eating your time.
You don’t need a brand new strategy for the back half of the year. You need to choose a few things that actually matter and protect them. That’s the strategy. Run everything through that one question, will this make a positive impact on my results in Q4, and let it decide where your time goes.
Badass Basics Series for eCommerce Stores:
- 369. Badass Basics: Your eCommerce Home Page
- 370. Badass Basics: Your eCommerce Navigation Menu
- 371. Badass Basics: Your eCommerce Product Page
- 372. Badass Basics: Building Your eCommerce Average Order Value
- 373. Badass Basics: The Importance of Trust & Credibility When Selling Online
- 374. Badass Basics: How to Optimize the eCommerce Post-Purchase Experience
