Retailers have been planning for the holiday season for most of 2009. At Shop.org, we have been too.

As the group widely credited for coining the phrase “Cyber Monday,” we’re always looking for ways to raise the profile of this important kick-off to the online holiday shopping season, trying to think outside the box for ways to bring shoppers online after the Black Friday weekend left them wanting more. In 2008, an estimated 85 million people shopped on Cyber Monday, and many retailers are looking to the Monday after Thanksgiving to bring another sales surge this year. For information about what Cyber Monday is (and what it isn’t), view these FAQs.

Shop.org offers several ways for retailers to maximize their Cyber Monday efforts, both ahead of time and on the all-important November 30. Here’s a rundown of what we’re working on this year:

CyberMonday.com: After a 42-second shout-out on Good Morning America this week (but, really, who’s counting?), Shop.org’s CyberMonday.com is moving full speed ahead for the holiday season. Last year, the site was named the #1 place to shop on Cyber Monday by Time magazine and has been featured on the Today Show, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and thousands of other places.

According to Mall Networks, which powers the site for us, shoppers spent more than $12 million through CyberMonday.com last holiday season and more than $23 million since the site was launched in November 2006. The site had 2.4 million unique visitors on Cyber Monday alone last year, up from 1.5 million on Cyber Monday 2007.

One quick side note: We’re excited that CyberMonday.com has become a major holiday shopping destination, but we’re particularly proud that all of our proceeds from the site go directly to the Ray M. Greenly Scholarship Fund. Since launching in 2007, CyberMonday.com has brought in more than $900,000 for the Fund, which provides financial assistance to students pursuing careers in retail and e-commerce. Ray was a good guy, and we all miss him, so it’s gratifying to be able to channel our passion for Cyber Monday into something that helps our community remember Ray.

If you’re not one of the 658 retailers that is currently listed on CyberMonday.com, there are still opportunities available to participate on the site this year. In order to be listed on the site by Cyber Monday, your company must have an affiliate program with Linkshare, Commission Junction or the Google Affiliate Network and sign up by November 13. (A bonus: if you sign up by Oct. 31, we’ll waive the $3,000 integration fee, which includes site placement, a listing in two categories and a logo along with a description of your company.) To learn more about how you can get your site listed on CyberMonday.com, email Marc Mazzone at Mall Networks.

If you already are one of the retailers listed on CyberMonday.com, there are still ways to make your company more visible on the site. Among them:

• Mall Networks tells me that the home page is almost sold out, but there are two spots open (that’s an opportunity only for current Shop.org members).
• There is still space available on shopping category pages for banners and logos.
• After a hugely-popular experiment last year, CyberMonday.com will feature a “Deal of the Hour” for Cyber Monday and — new this year — Black Friday. There are still some opportunities available for companies who wish to provide exclusive discounts or offers on the site.
• There are a handful of spots remaining for the “Top 5 Deals” placement on the home page

Marc is also the one to contact about these opportunities. (Something tells me after this post, he’s going to be a busy guy!)

Media opportunities: If you want your company to get in the news this holiday season, and you’re a Shop.org or NRF member, we can most definitely help. In the past, we’ve heard from retailers who are open to discussing their Cyber Monday plans with the media. This year, we’re ramping up that partnership to help our members get the most out of their Cyber Monday news while also helping the reporters we regularly work with gather in-depth information from reliable sources for their stories.

Feel free to contact me if you would like more details about providing your company’s Cyber Monday promotions to reporters in advance and/or if you have a company executive or spokesperson who can talk with the media on the record about what your company is planning for Cyber Monday this year. I’m also the person to contact if you would like us to provide a holiday-related quote for your company’s press release, if you want to use any of our Cyber Monday research, or if you’d like to refer a reporter you’re already working with to us to round out a story.

Something tells me it’s going to be an insanely-busy few months for all of us. While many of us at NRF and Shop.org finalize our Cyber Monday plans, we wait anxiously to learn what all of you have in store for this year!