Tough Times Ahead -- What Will You Do?

Good morning, friends. While the News reports holiday sales
are equal to or exceeding last years, I'm also hearing about
a lot of businesses that are closing down stores and
locations as well as letting tons of employees go.

Pryor, Oklahoma which is a sleepy little town was getting
ready to welcome Google who was planning on building a new
data center and hiring a ton of system engineers. That plan
screeched to a halt. The Gatorade announced a layoff.

These are mighty scary times.

We tend to react to every new radio or TV story with a
sudden sense of dread, asking ourselves when will this
economic downturn end.

And we tend to get very reactive, doing all sorts of stupid
things, making rash decisions.

I'm no exception to the rule. A month ago, I received an
offer to consolidate multiple lines of credit into one big,
low interest account with zero interest for a year, and I
moved five figures of cash into my checking account just in
case things got slow or we needed cash in a hurry. When you
are self-employed this is especially critical.

Wise move or stupid move? Wise if I don't use it all or
truly consolidate my higher interest payments. Stupid move
if I use it frivolously and can't pay it back.

The key point here is to not to make yourself crazy with
every new story you hear and to plan for the future wisely.

John Eldridge who is a spiritual and motivational author
recently sent out his newsletter (written letter style so
it seems very personal), and in it he said we need to stop
reacting to every little thing we hear with panic and
instead maintain our faith. Wise words indeed. All things
in their time, and these troubled times will pass, too.
Perhaps not as quickly as we would like, but they will
pass.

The real question, I think, is what do we choose to do
about it now? We know times are tough and are going to get
tougher. We're in a recession and in some places and for
some people, we are bordering on a depression.

What can you do?

If you are an employee at a company, you can make sure you
understand your job and the jobs of those around you (below
and above you and to your sides). Make yourself
indispensable and fluid so in the event of a layoff, you
can demonstrate your flexibility and value.

You should also understand your company's vision for the
future and do everything you can to support their strategy for
2009. Become a good corporate citizen and look for ways to
add value above and beyond your current role.

It's also a good time to update your resume and look at
competitors in your areas -- just in case. Be prepared to
leap at all times.

Back in NY when I was in my 20's I used to interview
monthly even when I was happy with my job just to keep my
interviewing skills razor sharp and to always understand my
cash value in the open market.

If you are self-employed, you need to take a different
tact. Most of us who work for ourselves would not readily
entertain returning to the corporate world to work for
someone else. Still, it's a good idea to take an inventory
of skills you have mastered while on your own and it's a
good exercise to update your resume.

And network. Like crazy.

The most important thing you can do is to work on improving
your relationship with prospects and customers. The
majority of people out there who you will be competing against do a
crappy job of this. They do not understand the value of
building and deepening relationships. You do the opposite.

Reach out and touch people repeatedly -- at least monthly
-- if not bi-weekly.

Now the best way to do this is to use software or services
to send personalized emails to your entire list on a
scheduled interval. Lots of tools to choose from here.

For those who prefer to do it themselves, check out
GroupMail:

http://www.emailmarketingassistance.com/groupmail.htm

For those who prefer greater automation and scheduling,
check out Get Response:

http://www.getresponse.com/index/35884

Once you have the system in place to deliver your
personalized emails, you need to write the series. I advise
a minimum of 20 touches these days. I used to use the
direct mail approach that said 7-10 messages were required to warm
up a prospect to the point where they would either contact
you or buy from you, but I believe in highly competitive
times like these that you need to touch them longer so your
name becomes second nature to them. You want them to think
of you, and only you, when they think of "entertainment".

I can write a series of 10 emails for $500.00 or a series
of 20 emails for $1000.00. You can break that into two
payments by PayPal. Send the first payment to
info@schneiderman.net to reserve your space in my schedule,
please. Do it now. I'm getting very busy.

Why pay me to write these messages for you? I write for a
living. I'll study your site and talk to you
to get the info I'll need to produce a custom series of
messages just for you.

I strongly suggest you add a newsletter subscription form
to your site. Every visitor should become a subscriber. You
need to provide a compelling reason to subscribe. Just
adding a form is not effective marketing and will do little
to grow your database. Offer a bribe, whether it's a free
report or a discount coupon.

If you need help creating these things, I can help you with this,
too. Check out the way Michael Kett does it on his Amazing
Flea Circus site:

http://www.amazingfleacircus.com

Yes, we designed this site for Michael about 2 years ago.
We also designed his corporate site:

http://www.michaelkett.com

We'll be updating this subscribe form later today with the
same free report offer.

You need to tell people to subscribe to your newsletter on
every page.

You need to tell people to use your contact form to get
info on every page.

If you don't tell them, they won't do it.

If you don't ask for the sale, they won't buy.

The more your prospects and customers think of you as a
close and trusted friend, the more business you will get.

Want to discuss your site? Call me at 918-298-9531 or email
me at info@schneiderman.net.

All my best,

Steven Schneiderman