Increase your profits in a recession!

I’m going to be writing a series of posts about small business strategies to profit during a recession.

First of all, I do believe there are some real serious economic challenges, particularly for large companies or even smaller companies who may be having some challenges obtaining credit.  I also believe that there are a lot more opportunities than the media would have us all believe.

Case in point – During a recent segment on Good Morning America, Diane Sawyer was interviewing an Avon distributor.  She acted astonished that women were buying cosmetics in such a tough economy.  About half of the people I know are women and I can’t tihink of a single one who quit applying makeup every day.  The absurdity of Ms. Sawyer’s comment was unbelievable!

Head to Walgreens, Krogers, Wal-Mart, Macy’s or any other store and see if they have cordoned off the cosmetics department because the economy is bad!

One thing I really shudder at is when a business owner tells me they are cutting back on their marketing because of the economy.  If they are cutting back, then their marketing was likely ineffective image advertising, they have no mechanism for tracking results or really don’t know what to do.

Don’t cut back!  Instead, sharpen your approach.  Understand your market, the media that will reach them and the message that you are sending.  Track your results, improve what is working and toss what isn’t.  Make every dollar you invest in marketing bring you prospects or sales.

Try multiple approaches and see what works best for you.  You won’t know what will work best unless you test it.  Be bold and different from your competition.  Stand apart from the crowd and provide incredible service.  Create a loyal fan base who would never consider leaving you.  Give them a reason to buy more from you and to buy more frequently.

In future posts, I’ll be giving you strategies and tactics that will likely deliver the greatest return for your business.   If there is something that works particularly well for you, share it with me so we can help each other gropw and succeed

Dedicated to multiplying your sales!

Paul