The Walls Are Falling Down, The Walls Are Falling Down

I just typed the word “recession” into Google. Guess what I got back? 47,800,000 search results. Not bad for something that the media was trying to hide just a few months ago during the recent Presidential election huh?

I’m not here to tell you that we’re not in a recession. We ARE indeed in a recession and have been for quite some time… a lot longer than any media outlet or the president-elect would admit.

But what does a recession really mean?

Does it mean that there’s less money to go around? Absolutely not.

Think about it logically. How could there be less money to go around? There simply can’t be. Where would it go? It wouldn’t just disappear. It’s still there. Just as much of it as there was before. There’s actually more money available recently as a result of the recent bailouts.

All of the money that was used to bailout the financial institutions and the car manufacturers was created out of thin air my friends… created by simple computer entry. Plain and simple. So there’s actually MORE money to go around now than there was before.

So what’s happening then? Why is everyone broke? “Everyone” is not broke. The average American is broke. The poor got poorer. So where did the money go? To the rich! To the entrepreneurs! To the bankers! That’s right… money doesn’t disappear during a recession… the money just shifts… changes hands. The old quote applies here: “The rich become richer and the poor become poorer.” Sure… the government is giving the bailout money directly to the car manufacturers and financial institutions… but they are using that money to pay their bills. They are paying employees and other companies for goods and services which trickles its way back down to YOU.

“The time to buy is when blood is running in the streets.”
– Baron Nathan Rothschild (a member of one of the richest families in the history of the US)

So what does all of this mean? In a turbulent economy:

* A consultant or independent contractor is much more appealing than an employee. He or she is not a long-term obligation; if things don’t work out, there’s no mess. No health insurance and no office politics.
* Proactive ears are wide open to a person who can promise and guarantee instant results. The world desperately needs rainmakers. Tighten up your guarantees!
* As a person who literally understands marketing better than 99% of all other business people, you are in a de-luxe position. Do NOT underestimate this. You have a deep bag of tricks which is going to be more in-demand than ever.
* 80/20 thinking will reveal all sorts of opportunities to you that are invisible for everyone else.
* Cash is king. Therefore do not think in terms of surviving. Think in terms of thriving. Do not decide you are going to merely attempt to do OK; rather, decide you are going to prevail. Over the next 2-3 years you are going to purchase undervalued stocks, real estate, hire undervalued people, enter undervalued markets, and take advantage of the fact that some people will just roll over and die because they heard bad news on CNN. If they sell you their portfolio for cheap, it’s their loss and your gain.
* Bulk is a liability. Shrewdness is the asset.
* Dump bad employees, bad vendors and bad partners immediately. Because there are alternatives and they are undervalued.
* Leaks that didn’t seem worth plugging before merit your attention now. There was a time when money was moving at such velocity, it was more useful to focus on picking it up as it was flying by than to stop us the holes. You find that this has changed. Tighten your ship.
* Marketing dollars shift from branding to direct marketing. From marketing to sales. From offline to online. This has many implications. If your competition is well-established, traditional or big companies, expect them to come lumbering into your space. The Internet becomes even more competitive than before. Relative bargains in traditional media may open up as ad reps try desperately to meet their quotas.
* Track, track track. Track every advertising dollar that leaves your bank account. If that same dollar doesn’t come back to you with a few of its friends, make changes or shift your advertising dollars to a media that IS working.
* Don’t forget about your existing customer list. On average, it costs 10 times more to acquire a new customer than it does to work with an existing customer. Don’t underestimate the power of your existing customer list to get you through tough times.

So get out there and grab your share of the newly created bailout that the government foolishly injected into our economy.

If you don’t, someone else will…

If you want to start 2009 off right (getting as many of those bailout dollars as you can), for the first time EVER, I’m offering a 50% discount on my consulting fees for the remainder of January. That means that a 30 minute consult will only run you $375 and an hour consult will only run you $750. Go here for more info:

http://www.brian-bagnall.com/services/1-on-1-consultation/

And as always, if you’re not satisfied in the first 15 minutes, just let me know and you won’t owe a penny. After that, you’re in for the full ride.