My Prediction for 2009
by Clay Campbell
I have read that as many as 8 out of 10 Americans are nervous and a bit afraid of
the economic times we are in. I own a business and have 30 some people depending on
my company to pay them. I don’t believe any of them feel like they are going to lose
their jobs, still many of them are apprehensive of the future because of all the bad
reports from the media.
Here is an example of the typical story that is reported everywhere!
Economically difficult times are here.
Times are tough. We are now “officially” in a recession. A survey shows that more
than 8 out of every 10 Americans are frightened about the state of the economy.
Anxiety is at an all time high. You are probably suffering from the financial
crises.
How’s that for a story to get your day started off right! Doesn’t that make you
feel like going out and being productive? If you’re a salesperson, don’t that
inspire you to go out and sell something today?? If you are a business owner,
doesn’t that make you feel better about having gone in to business for yourself?
Newspapers, TV, and magazines are looking for a story to report. The worse the
news is the more importance they seem put on it. The fact that they can report the
coming gloom and doom, recession and depression, I believe makes them think they
are doing us a great service by imparting all this important bad news to us.
They will report that an arsonist burned down a church building, but will never
report that a group of people just built a new church building. Bad news sells.
Good news does not.
The media will report that two guys raped a girl scout while she was out
selling cookies. They would never report that my wife and I have been happily
married for 29 years, that we give money to the boy scouts and girls scouts,
or that we support a missionary in South America and that I help deliver free
meals to poor people on Thanksgiving and Christmas, because that is not news.
Millions of people in America are happily married, and do volunteer work, and
help people, but that all goes unreported.
My Prediction
I predict in the coming year 2009 it will be about like it’s always been.
Opportunity mixed with difficulty. Some will prosper others will go bankrupt.
Some will lose jobs others will get new jobs. Some will get married, some will
get a divorce. Bad crap will happen to some good people. Some evil people will
commit murder and get away with it.
According to the "CIA Factbook," there are approximately 6,744 deaths in
the USA every day. The Associated Press reports on July 18th 2008, that about 11,821
new babies are born every day in the land of the free and the home of the brave.
It has always been like this. Warm soft breezes blow and Hurricanes come over
the same ocean.
Shall all of America look to the government to bail them out? Heaven forbid.
Not me. I say right with Teddy Roosevelt, “To whom much is given, much is
expected!”
I am going to leave my cave, I’m going out and kill something, and drag it
home, and my wife of 29 years is going to cook it, and we are going to sit
down and give thanks to God for it, and eat it. And as Walter Cronkite always
said, “And that’s they way it is; Good night.”
What to Expect in 2009
Ready to Play Leapfrog?
by Roy Williams
The coming year will be fun, adventure-filled and profitable for people who have
their wits about them.
A number of small business owners are positioning themselves to overtake their
much larger rivals. Will one of these companies be yours?
Not many years ago, General Motors and Circuit City were the dominant
players in their categories. Today they’re both on their knees, having made
the same mistakes:
- They took their fingers off the pulse of the customer.
When you believe your marketing pipeline will allow you to dictate what the
customer will buy, you’re in danger of being leapfrogged. In 1960, General
Motors sold nearly 60 percent of all new cars. Today, even though Chevrolet
maintains 4,200 dealerships, Toyota sells more cars than all 5 GM brands combined
through just 1,400 locations. LESSON: Having the right product is more
important than heritage and convenience.
- They quit taking risks.
When companies achieve success, they usually quit innovating and become
guardians of the status quo. But yesterday’s perfect processes are obsolete
tomorrow. Vinyl records were replaced by 8-track tapes. 8-tracks were replaced
by cassettes. Cassettes were replaced by CDs. And now CD’s are being replaced
by MP3 players. The same is happening with business practices. LESSON: Success,
like failure, is a temporary condition. Never assume you've arrived.
The leaders are going into hunker-down mode. They’re cutting back their
advertising, assuming that everyone else will cut back as well.
When a leapfrogger sees a leader’s brake lights, he hits the accelerator.
Are you beginning to see what I meant when I said, “fun, adventure-filled
and profitable?”
Here are the trends to watch in 2009:
- Frivolous purchases are being delayed.
We’re wearing our clothes longer and keeping the cars we’ve got. We'll
buy what we need, but only after asking whether we really need it.
- We're buying fewer things, but better things.
More attention is being paid to quality. Only the poorest are choosing by
price alone. Information is king. Details are power. This is good news for makers
of better products.
- “Sustainable” is a concept that will grow in power for at least 10 years.
The lifestyle of the 80's and 90's was "upwardly mobile" and its leaders were
marked by "conspicuous consumption." But the chosen lifestyle of the next generation
will be "sustainable," meaning that we'll strive to live within our means and
embrace practices that are environmentally responsible.
Perhaps now would be a good time to have a complimentary meeting with a Wizard of Ads Partner. Links to their websites and blogs are listed down the right side of The Wizard Times. Hundreds of their articles with free insightful advice can been seen at www.americansmallbusiness.com 2009 would be a great year to attend a class at the Wizard Academy 21st Century Business School in Austin Texas. What is the Wizard Academy?
See you next week.
Clay Campbell
Wizard of Ads
PS. Need help to attract more customers and grow your business?
