In a major downturn, not everyone has to suffer.
Already there are lots of mixed messages. The media reports that sales are up at the Victoria Market, while lots of other retailers are down. Yet retail plant nurseries have reportedly had a great Springtime.
Even in residential property the picture is not clear. All year prices in many areas have not reached the dizzy heights of late 2007. And since September the fall off in prices has been more dramatic. Yet on 20 November it was reported that sales in October had taken a jump. And builders have reported an increase in sales of new homes of between 30% and 50%.
In addition to all this, many mums and dads who are in work are finding things OK so far. The cost of running their car has dropped slightly and their mortgage is easier.
Clearly, we are looking at a variable picture with winners and losers.
In your business it is important to get your attitude right. Are you going to head for cover and hope it passes quickly? Or are you going to take the initiative and make good things happen? There is nothing that says you must take part in the downturn.
If your target market is feeling the pinch, this is a very good time for you to review your methods. It is almost certainly not good enough to just keep doing what you have been doing. There may be a very good case for more business investment in advertising or promotion or corporate gifts – or whatever is appropriate in your case. But whatever it is, think about it carefully beforehand and try to make yourself standout.
In moving to be successful during a downturn, my guess is that fortune will favour the brave.
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1 comment:
Dear Frank, first, congrats on a really slick blog. You set the standard for copywriters as far as I'm concerned.
With regard to the downturn, I had 4 days of absolute calm after 6 months of back-to-back work. I thought it was the recession hitting.
Instead of panicking (as I have in the past) I followed the advice that more & more people had been giving me & started to investigate new online content creation, rating & cross-referencing systems like Squidoo, Digg, Technorati & StumbleUpon.
Traffic to my company website www.thefeistyempire.com new word website www.liferal.com & blog www.surrealshortstories.com jumped more than 20% in the weeks following my self-education stint. I was most impressed.
Even better, I used www.squidoo.com/cartoonsheep to make the first dollar of passive income that I've been dreaming of for years.
At 43, it seems an old dog can learn new tricks. Yet I wouldn't have done it without the free time afforded by the downturn.
Eric Hoffer said: 'In times of change, learners inherit the earth'. I think he might be right!
Keep up the ace work, Frank!
Best regards, Paul. :)
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