When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Marketing

Hear ye hear ye… The recession is coming, the recession is coming. Well let me ask you, is a recession coming? Is a recession really coming? How do you know? I tell you what, if you believe it’s coming for you, you’re right, it is coming for you. Alternatively, if you believe it’s not coming for you, you’re right again, it’s not. How could that be? Well I firmly believe that your beliefs, one way or the other, act as a self-fulfilling prophecy. Your beliefs will guide your thoughts; which in turn will dictate your actions; which ultimately will shape your reality.

Now as a marketing guy I love the media however I have to caution you, be wary of them perpetuating your fears with the belief in a recession because where attention goes, energy flows. The more people that listen and buy into this fear, the more likely it is to become reality – at least for some. And for the media, doom and gloom gets ratings and sells papers so why wouldn’t they perpetuate it.

Now I’m not saying be uniformed or ignorant, or that the media is evil or something. Just be careful what you feed your mind. Keep looking for a recession, and you’ll find it.

In my opinion there is a right way and a wrong way to circumvent or if needed, navigate through a possible recession.

First, the wrong way... The word starts spreading of a recession looming in the near future. Panic starts to spread like wildfire with the majority of small businesses tightening their belts in anticipation of the tough times to come – for the most part, they will unjustifiably go from business building mode to survival mode. And one of the first things they’ll do is cut spending. Now unfortunately for most small businesses the first line item they seem to cut is the one that provides their sustenance and momentum – the marketing. As a result, the pipeline of prospects quickly starts to dry up and their fear of a recession becomes a reality – for them at least anyway.

Now the right way… The word starts spreading of a recession looming in the near future. Panic starts to spread like wildfire with the majority of your competition cutting their marketing efforts to try and save money. In turn realizing it or not, they’ve just cleared a path for you. They’ve uncluttered the airwaves making it easier for you to stand out from the pack and get noticed by, you guessed it… your target market. So while your competition’s sales pipeline quickly dries up, yours explodes with an abundance of new prospects. Hey, your target market will listen to whoever is doing the talking. And if you’re not doing the talking, someone else will… and that someone will most likely be one of your competitors.

So in closing, trust that opportunity and abundance surrounds all of us all of the time… even amidst the possibility of a looming recession. Let your competition bow to fear. Be bold… be unstoppable… don’t let anyone or anything other than you dictate your reality.

© 2008 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

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