Top five ways to succeed in this economy

True confession: I love to shop. Nothing is more fun for me than finding something of excellent quality at a bargain price. Must be the ancestral Viking blood that surges through my veins and makes me feel like a warrior.

Every once in a while I go online and start shopping for things that sound like a bargain. Not clothes or toys – domain names. I love website names that seem perfectly logical and descriptive – where else would you go, for example, for your continuing education course than a website named EasyCEU.com? (we own that one). And if you’re a new family caregiver, wouldn’t CaringForMom.com be the logical place you’d turn? (Own that one, too; we plan to launch it fully very soon). My husband and I and a small group of our friends have started a Sunday afternoon hiking group for fun and fitness – so I bought hillhikes.com to record our adventures (it’s not live yet; don’t bother checking).

Last night I was shopping for another name I’d thought of (it was taken) and came across a video blog that I paused and watched for a full 5 minutes. It’s not often I’ll even watch a 2 minute youtube video, but this one was right on the mark. I’ll give you the link at the bottom of this page, but be forewarned: the blogger, Bob Parsons, is a Hugh Heffner wanna be (my assessment) and he uses some fairly unconventional props in rather unnecessary ways (again, my opinion only). His message, nonetheless, is right on the money.

Title: Top five ways to make this bad economy work for your business.

Key points: Anyone can succeed in a good economy. In a bad economy, our true measure is taken. It’s your opportunity to show what you’ve really got – making it now means you’re truly successful. So what should you do?
1) Look for opportunities that arise from less competition. Some of your competition will likely fail, fold or retreat, giving you opportunities that may never exist again in your marketplace.
2) Improve your products and services NOW. You’ll stand out while your competition stands still. Take advantage of advertising bargains today – buy commercials you never could afford before; negotiate bigger ads for less money. (Singing my tune!)
3) Find a way to offer your customers more value for less money. People are bargain shopping today like they haven’t in years, and they’re still buying when the price – and the product – is right.
4) Take advantage of the best talent you can hire, at wages you can afford. Build up the talent in your team while you have some excellent, top-quality candidates to choose from. This won’t last, either, as we all know.
5) Renegotiate with your vendors. Your clients are looking for bargains or flexibility; ask your vendors to give you the same benefit. You’re a valuable client to every one of your vendors; don’t hesitate to ask them for added discounts or payment flexibility.

There are bargains – and benefits – all over in this bad economy. I don’t know about you, but I’m shopping!

Here’s the link to see the video blog for yourself (remember, though, I warned you): http://www.bobparsons.me/blog24.html?watch=1