My friend Chris Malta has written a doozy of an article on this subject, so take it away Chris:

"I know, I know. It's July. But if you look, you'll notice you can't get swim suits in the clothing stores anymore...

I do this topic in my Newsletter every year in July. If you've been reading for years, you know that, and you may be able to skip this one. However, you may want to continue anyway, because a little reminder can't hurt!

If you haven't been reading for more than a year, please pay attention to this one. It's important. I like to think they all are, but some topics are a little more critical than others. :o)

The 2006 model year cars are out. If you try to buy a swim suit in your department store, all they have left are the ones that nobody wanted earlier in the year. The fall Home Decor stuff is in KMart. Wal-Mart is gearing up with warmer clothing already. Before you know it, the Halloween stuff will be on the shelves. That will all too soon be followed by plastic, motorized, smiling figures of Santa making arm gestures that could be considered questionable if you position him the wrong way in your yard.

The big retailers all know that this is the time to be gearing up for the biggest retail season of the year. The Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, let's buy a ton of gifts and fill up the closets with stuff we'll never use again Season.

The Holiday Season gifts may not be on the shelves yet, but you can bet your life that they're on the way to the stores' warehouses. The big retailers' Purchasing Agents are making deals as we speak for tens of thousands of Atomic Neutron Robo-Blaster Buddies, and Suzi Drinks Her Bottle and Calculates Your Income Taxes Dolls. Expensive Diamond Jewelry, Dad's Favorite Tool Kits and Car Seat Massage Sets are already flowing from manufacturers to wholesalers to retail warehouses.

The big guys do it, and you should to. That's how the big guys got to be the big guys in the first place. You have to plan well in advance for the products you want to sell during the Holiday Season. That one short, shining Season accounts for a whopping 60+% of all retail business for the entire year. Those who are prepared, make money. Those who are not wonder why they didn't.

This is also a great time to start an EBiz, if you've been thinking about doing so. You still have time to be up and running for the Holidays.

So, how do you prepare? Do some Market Research on products you think you want to sell this Season. To learn how to do that, listen to our Entrepreneur Magazine EBiz Radio Show this coming Monday...we'll be talking with Matt Hedges, Author of "The Online Research Guide to Picking Products That Sell!" If you can't listen on Monday, you can find the show in our Archives next week, at www.EBizShow.com.

Start looking for wholesale suppliers of products that will sell well as gifts, and that can complement your existing product lines. That way, you don't have much Search Engine Positioning or Auction re-tooling to do when the selling begins.

If you're already working with products you know will sell well during the Holidays, start talking to your Suppliers, and asking them what their inventory levels will be during that time on each product. You don't want to run out.

Ask your wholesale suppliers which products they are planning on stocking the most of...those will be the products that THEIR Market Research indicates will be selling well!

For the online Retailer, like you and me, the Holiday Season preparations stat NOW, so don't be caught by surprise this year...there will be competitors out there preparing right now!"