Sincerely appreciate the mention! Folks, check out Jen’s blog above!

PB

Exactly what I’m talking about and I appreciate the real-word affirmation! And when you stop and think about it, it’s totally logical. Where else might it be happening?

PB

Y’know how it is when we learn a new word or expression, which then keeps popping into view? Just had that feeling in relation to this thread . . . and who else can I tell?

Back-burner client in electronics engineering/manufacturing calls to request multi-stage proposal for expanded online content, monthly ‘new’ product releases and direct mailer because [here it comes . . .] trade show attendance is waaaay down due to the economy. So he’ll minimize that marketing channel and increase WRITTEN outreach.

We’re onto something here, Peter.

An HP exec echoes us:

“It’s incredibly important to be risk-takers in the economic climate we’re in when people have a tendency to pull back. In economic times like these, you don’t hunker down and go in the bunker.”
– Michael Mendenhall, SVP/chief marketing officer at Hewlett-Packard

Full report here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/20/business/media/20adco.html?ref=business

Great advice, Ron, on several points. And Mike, thanks for your usual pithy contributions. Especially love the comments about not listening to new – something I’ve NOT been doing (listening, that is…) for a long time (yes, I’ve been more plugged in during this election cycle, as has everyone, I suspect…)

And as Craig, points out, things really AREN’T as bad they may seem. Hence the reason I wrote decided to do this particular post. I just know that many people WILL buy into a skewed perception of reality. NOT that there isn’t heckuva lot of hardship right now, but rather, is that, in fact, your experience of events. As Mike and Michael point out, marketing more is what smart people (writers and our clients) do in tough times.

And Tom, I echo your comment. Can’t help but think of Honest Abe’s famous saying: “A man’s about as happy as he makes up his mind to be.”

PB

I learned to fight off these negative urges early in my sales career. If you buy into the media’s take on things, you’ll end up in a pretty sad state.

1) Reality is rarely as bad as the news makes it out to be. The more they sensationalize – the higher their ratings. Pretty easy to figure out how they’re going to report the news.
2) If you buy into it you will subconsciously start to think negative, feel negative and sound negative. Your business will suffer; who wants to deal with someone like that?
3) As a matter of fact, these are good times to pass along some positivity – like Peter is doing – and let your clients know your are here for them if they need anything.

I don’t mean to sound Pollyannaish; the reality is, things aren’t really that bad. At the risk of bringing politics into this, I’ve heard the rhetoric that this is the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Have you seen double-digit inflation and 35% unemployment. Yeah, me either.

When you hear someone spouting bad news, ask yourself if they might have an agenda. Often the answer is yes. You can’t control the news, so ignore it, and get on with the things you can control.

By working from home and not being “around the water cooler”, I’ve saved myself from being swayed by how people react to what’s going on in the news. Which, without a doubt, has been very serious for many people.

But all this bad news hasn’t affected my career as a freelancer. In fact, I’m about to be as busy as I’ve ever been. Despite the impression we often get from the media, the world goes on and people still need to market their businesses. In fact, some will market more to take advantage of their competition that may be hurting. Others see it as a great time to introduce something new to the market. Still others will play off all the that’s going on in the news to recast their products/services in a new light. That all requires fresh marketing material.

I’ve pretty much got three companies that will keep me busy into next year. Three! That’s pretty amazing when I think about it. (In fact, I just had to let a new client go after only one project because I felt they were going to consume far more time than I had to give them.)

I’ve talked to plenty of folks who come into this field thinking they have to have dozen and dozens of clients to make things work. They may go through dozens and dozens to find the best long-term clients. But once they do that, it only takes a handful to keep your calendar full. As PB said, it just takes a tiny sliver of the available work to keep you busy. And even given the situation these days, a sliver isn’t hard to come by.