Feeling stuck on year-end content? Jay Schwedelson makes the case for a simple, printable calendar as your fastest way to spark signups between Nov 1 and Jan 15, with real numbers to back it up. He shares exactly how B2B, consumer, and nonprofit teams can spin a one-hour build into two months of lead gen, then weighs in on regifting etiquette and the very serious question of reused gift bags.

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Best Moments:

(01:32) Calendar content is the simplest year-end boost for signups and downloads.

(02:10) From Nov 1 to Jan 15, calendars outperform by 300 percent in B2B, 200 percent in consumer, and 160 percent in nonprofit.

(03:06) Make an industry event calendar and spotlight your webinars and launches inside it.

(04:02) For consumer brands, ship a 2026 daily habit or wellness calendar people will actually print.

(04:46) Nonprofits win with a 12 month impact and participation calendar that nudges giving and volunteering.

(06:18) Regifting is fine if the gift is good, and anyone shaming you for reusing a gift bag needs to relax.

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Jay Schwedelson: We are back for ask us anything from the do this, not that podcast. This is our short episode. We're all week long. We get in questions, we get in work questions, we get in super ridiculous questions and we try to tackle one of each. If you wanna submit one, you be an extremely cool human. Just go to jay schon.com.

Jay Schwedelson: There's a button that says podcast, another one that says Ask us anything. And I love getting the questions 'cause without it we can't do the show. So let's jump into, let's do the work question. First we got a question from Kendra from Livingston, New Jersey. Oh, I always feel bad for people from New Jersey.

Jay Schwedelson: New Jersey is an underrated state, and why do I feel bad? Um, not that you ask Kendra because it's like. It's like New York's kind of armpit or something. No offense. And the reason I say that is like the New York Jets and the New York Giants, the football teams. Okay, that's what they're called. The New York Jets.

Jay Schwedelson: The New York Giants. Do you realize they play their games at the same stadium and the stadium is in New Jersey? How insulting is that? You have two NFL teams. There's no NFL team in New Jersey. Let's named New Jersey, but the two ones outta New York play in New Jersey and they're called New York teams.

Jay Schwedelson: That's a joke. What is going on? Anyway, New Jersey. Here's some love for you all anyway. Alright, Kendra, what's your question? Jay, we are trying to come up with content that will give us a boost going into the end of year and we feel stuck. Anything that works particularly well this time of year. Okay. Good question.

Jay Schwedelson: And I got something good for you guys'. Been good for everybody. Whether you are a consumer marketer, a non-profit marketer, a business to business marketer, there is one content type that crushes it more than anything by a landslide, and that is. Calendar content. Okay. What do I mean by that? Let me first give you the stat on how well it does.

Jay Schwedelson: So from November 1st through January 15th, this is the number one content type in terms of what drives, downloads, signups, contact, capture, whatever you want to call it. And that is calendar downloadable, uh, calendar formats. So on the business side, okay, this is 300% higher than any other content type.

Jay Schwedelson: During that November through January 15th period, on the consumer side, 200% higher, and for nonprofit over 160% higher according to World Data Research. Now, what do I mean by that? So on the business to business side, this is magic. This is gold. My organization's been putting out. The best and worst days to send out email calendar now for over 10 years.

Jay Schwedelson: It's easily our most downloaded piece of content every year, and this is when we do our heavy push. But for anybody, the easiest thing that you can do to make a calendar content on the business to business side is an industry event calendar. You make a PDF, okay? You go out and find all the industry events, okay, that are key to your industry, whatever they are.

Jay Schwedelson: And then on the calendar. You have a special designation for your events, like put the webinar dates that you're gonna have, okay? Put whatever events that you are gonna be exhibiting at and you kind of carve it out in a different color on the calendar or whatever other cool stuff you wanna put on the calendar.

Jay Schwedelson: Layered in with all the industry stuff. Oh, this is when a new law goes into effect. This is when of big conferences, this is when something else happened. Who cares? Okay. You make the definitive industry, uh, events and information calendar for your industry, and then you push it crazy hard, Hey, it's available now.

Jay Schwedelson: It just came out, just released. Let's go. And if you're not doing this and you should be doing this annually, people will become, uh, excited about it every year. And this is how you can grow your database. Everybody loves these calendars. They print them out, they put 'em on their wall. It is great. Now, on the consumer side, you're like, well, I can't do this.

Jay Schwedelson: I don't care what you sell or what service you provide, you can make this downloadable content. Piece, which will crush it for your category. And same thing, you know, a lot of the nonprofit folks are out there like, well, this doesn't apply to us. We can't do that. That's true. You know, the nonprofit world's perfect for this.

Jay Schwedelson: Okay. You could put in the, uh, the 12 month calendar reminding people of the impact that your nonprofit's having each month. Or all the different ways that you can participate annually. Some days you're, you're, you give, this month it means this, you know, some days you have these volunteering events you layered in there.

Jay Schwedelson: Whatever industry you're in now is that moment you make a calendar. This might take you an hour to make the calendar, and then you ride this content for the next two months. It will crush it for you. This is a no-brainer. All right. Let's get into the ridiculous question. We got a question from Jared from Sacramento.

Jay Schwedelson: All right, what do you got, Jared? Jay, do you think re-gifting gifts to other people is bad? Um, well, okay, so let, I have a, I have something about this, but in general, here's the problem with regifting. I'm not against it at all. Okay? But generally speaking, um, if you are regifting it because you think the gift is horrendous, then that's not cool.

Jay Schwedelson: 'cause then you're giving somebody else a pile of garbage. Now if you're regifting something, 'cause you already have the thing, right? Okay. And you really like it. Great. That's fine. But the problem with regifting is the whole return policy thing and all of that. Um, I'll never forget my, uh, one of my relatives Regifted something, uh, to another one of my relatives.

Jay Schwedelson: And when they did it, uh, they were like, dude, um, we we're, we're the family that gave this to you. That was so awkward. It was amazing. I love all things about that. But here's what happened the other day, and I wanna know everyone's take on this. So. Um, I was, we went to some sort of a, a party thing, right?

Jay Schwedelson: And we brought, um, this little gift for the people that are having the party, me and my wife. And we came in and we gave the gift and it was in a gift bag, okay? And I went to hand it to this dude who's having the party, whatever. And I gave it to him and he goes, Hey, and did you re, uh, regift the gift bag?

Jay Schwedelson: I said, what? And he's like, this gift bag is this one that like you got and whatever. And by the way, it was, who cares? And I'm like, yeah, we reuse gift bags. Like, what's your deal? He's like, oh, I don't know. It's a little weird. It's what he says to me a little weird. I was like, what are you talking about?

Jay Schwedelson: First of all. Anybody who thinks that reusing a gift bag is weird, is a loser. And I hope that dude is listening because you're a loser. I don't care if you're listening. I, I, listen. I don't even wanna, I didn't wanna be there to begin with. Sorry. Don't care. It was horrendous party. That's what I'd say about that.

Jay Schwedelson: Yeah, I'm okay with that. Please. Uninvite me. Disinvite me. I don't care. Um, but if anybody out there shems, anybody else for reusing a gift bag, I don't. What, what do you do? You get it and then you take it out and then you throw out the gift bag. Who does that? Like I, I don't even think if you're like Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk and you have a gabillion dollars, you would do that.

Jay Schwedelson: That's just not what a human being does. And if somebody to calls somebody else on it is a giant epic loser tool Nerd, dweeb, geek, horrendous human. I don't know what I'm talking about. There you go. I said it. Um. Alright, what did we get outta today? We gotta make a calendar that's important. We ha regifting is fine if the gift is not terrible.

Jay Schwedelson: And anybody that shames you on, on re-using a gift bag is, uh, unfriend material. And, uh, if this wasn't the worst podcast you've ever listened to, uh, I don't leave it a review. That would be awesome. You'd be my best friend and we'll, uh, we'll check in the next one later.