Strategies and Tools for a Depressed Economy

I hope this edition of my newsletter finds you and yours well. I
apologize for missing a week or two recently, but life has gotten
hectic as the kids have returned to school and after-school
activities. The combination makes for precious little down time
to focus on anything other than family.

My daughter has entered 8th grade and is already taking her
second year of Chinese as well as High School level Science. My
son has started 6th grade and is taking pre-Algebra, Chinese and
he is very excited about starting the Clarinet.

My daughter made the 8th grade pom squad and has been in training
all summer. Their first game is in another week and we've
purchased tickets for the season. She also returns to point
ballet -- I think this is the beginning of her 11th year in
ballet. So she's pretty stoked and booked solid every day and
night of the week.

My son has continued with his tennis lessons and things are
really clicking for him. His trainer says he's ready to start
playing against his peers. The high school in our district has a
huge tennis academy, so we're hopeful that if he sticks with this
sport he might position himself for a college scholarship when
the time comes.

Of course, my wife and I are busy with our respective careers and
hobbies (hers - dental hygienist/tennis, mine - consulting/magic)
and it seems we're always driving one of the kids some place!

It's hard to find down time to just relax and be alone to think
about things. Does that sound familiar?

Sometimes, when things are not going our way, that downtime seems
more depressing than like solitude. But quiet time is necessary
to refocus, change gears, and revitalize. It's easy to get caught
up in what's not going well, but how many times do we actually
acknowledge where things are going right?

Of course, it's not easy knowing who to turn to for advice
either. These days everyone is an expert. And much of what the
experts say tend to contradict one and another. In the online
marketing world, one guru says social media is King and another
swears by list building and SEO. Who do you listen to?

I don't have all the answers, but I've got some ideas.

First, just because the economy stinks for most of us, doesn't
mean you should become invisible by taking a marketing vacation. While
it's true that most people and companies are not buying anything
right now - products or services - this could be a good time to
draw the wagons in a circle around your existing customers rather
than go after new business. It's time to go into protection mode
and start sharing success stories with them. Let them know how
grateful you are for their business, and let them know what
you've done for other customers. It's a good time for a customer
appreciation seminar. Get them all in a room to listen to
speakers who can help them to understand how to survive in a
challenging economy. Get them on stage talking about how you have
helped them. Let them leave without the pressure of buying
something from you, but with good feelings towards you.

It's a great time to start a newsletter and build your mailing
list. Encourage existing customers to subscribe and add a
subscription form to your home page. Start sharing success
stories, tips, and advice. Send it out weekly, ask questions,
make personal calls to follow-up, provide free advice, and to let
people see you as a trusted authority so that when the economy
changes direction, you will be the first person they call.

Planting seeds for the future is very important during times of
economic famine.

Now here's some things you can do on the cheap to help educate
yourself about trends in search engine optimization and social
media that will help position your web site and company for the
future, too:

Magic SEO Book
http://www.cooltoolawards.com/ebooks/magicseobook.htm

Twitter Explosion
http://www.cooltoolawards.com/ebooks/twitterexplosion.htm

Facebook Social Ads Exposed
http://www.cooltoolawards.com/ebooks/facebooksocialadsexposed.htm

350 Social Media Tactics
http://www.resellerproducts.com/350socialmediastrategies/

Until next time,

Steven

Schneiderman Marketing, LLC, 1811 South Baltimore, Suite 203, Tulsa, OK 74119, United States