Ewwwwww the “R” word
You know which word I’m talking about “recession” blah! It seems everywhere I turn people are talking about the “R” word. “Is there a recession?”, “Are you feeling the affects of the recession?”, “Do you find you are making less these days?”, “Are people buying less?”, “What are we going to do as entrepreneurs when the recession officially hits?”…the list of questions goes on and on.
While in NYC I met, Denise Hedges of www.lifeworkcoaching.com. Denise and I were part of a panel discussing “Creative Ways to Market Your Practice”. One of the questions was “What are your thoughts on the upcoming recession and what should people do to prepare for it?” Denise took this question and she said something along the lines of “If you think there is a recession you will act like there is a recession. If you act like there is a recession you will feel the affects of the recession. People who think there is a recession will not be as successful as those who ignore the media and who will continue their marketing and continue growing their businesses.” Well said Denise!
In a recent newsletter the Ezine Queen Ali Brown, noted that although people are complaining about the recession, malls are still jam packed and those complaining about the recession are the ones buying big ticket items.
So do we want to believe their is a recession so we have something to talk about other than the weather? Do we want to believe it’s true so we have excuse to sit back and not market our business? Or is it an excuse not to look deeper into our businesses to see what other products or services we can offer and maybe look at other groups of people (aka niches) we can promote our offers too?
Some solo entrepreneurs may consider lowering their fees thinking that “something is better than nothing” in a recession. Is that a good idea? Well, I’ve been reading Alan Weiss’ book “Million Dollar Consultant”. In it Alan talks about the disadvantages of lowering your fees. If you lower your fees for one client be prepared to lower it for another client. If you lower your fees for new clients is that fair for your to your loyal long term clients? If your business relies on referrals lowering your fees for a new client will mean that the client who referred you should also get that discount. It’s a viscious circle.
Keys to get “over” this.
1) Stay away from people who believe there is a recession. As an entrepreneur you cannot be poisoned by this way of thinking or it will eat you and your business for breakfast!
2) Stay away from the media. Have you every felt fabulous and fully refreshed after watching the news? Probably not! There’s a reason why they want to scare you…fear makes them money! They are running a business too you know!
3) Surround yourself with people who are successful and who are also ignoring the “R” word. These are the people who will inspire you in good times and in bad. For instance you might want to join a mastermind group or hire a coach who will keep you motivated.
4) Ask yourself “If I had to make $1,000 today, what are the different ways I could accomplish that?” As a solopreneur you have the creativity to do this! You could offer your past clients a “jump start” coaching package. Get them motivated again. You could offer “1 hour lightning round” coaching session. You could also promote that product or service that you haven’t promoted in a while. Just because a product or service is on your website doesn’t mean that everyone remembers that it’s there. Remind them gently in your newsletter or blog.
What other ways can you think of to get over the “R” word way of thinking? Post your comment here.
If you like this post, please consider buying me a coffee.Written by Sandra De Freitas
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2 comments July 11th, 2008