Think musical chairs - don’t be the person who has over-extended himself so much that when the music stops, he’s one of the ones left without a chair.”

Today’s crisis is much like 1987 and the dot-com bust. Financing got way ahead of reality and, as is always the case when such things happen, there was a retraction - and the retraction was painful.

You may be experiencing the effects of this merry-go-round personally. You may have family members who are experiencing it. You will certainly have customers and colleagues who are.

What should internet marketers do at a time like this?

Rule 1: Acknowledge reality

There is usually quite a bit of advance warning between the first signs of smoke and the undeniable reality that the house is on fire.

These things happen.

You should also acknowledge reality in your marketing. If your products are particularly good value, make sure you emphasize that. If you have a long track record of providing stable service in all kinds of markets, let your prospects know. Prospects want value for their money now

Rule 2: Cut waste and build reserves

Every household and every business has its extravagances and waste.

Now is not the time to take on big financial commitments in these very treacherous markets. One common area of waste in internet marketing is the less-than-rigorous management of AdWords campaigns. If you’re spending any amount of money on pay-per-click advertising, perhaps hire the services of a good AdWords consultant for an audit of your program.

It’s not at all unusual to discover that you’ve been wasting anywhere between 10% and 40% of your pay-per-click budget on non-productive ads.

Rule 3: Build closer relationships with your prospects

The standard internet business model is to drive people to a page and then offer them things to click on: AdSense ads, affiliate links or an order button.

Revenues are enhanced by experimenting with different content areas (for AdSense), promoters (for affiliate marketers) or different products (for marketers who sell direct.)

If that’s all you’re doing, you may be missing out on a huge piece of the internet marketing pie - creating targeted mailing lists.

You will make far more money, and have a much more stable business, if you create lots of targeted, high value, zero cost (free) virtual goodies to give away to your visitors in exchange for their name and e-mail address than if you don’t.

Put list building at the center of your strategy. It’s a tried and trusted approach, and in an environment in which customers are scarce, having a list of active buyers is as good as money in the bank.

Rule 4: Above all - value will be king

Fortunes are made in good times. They’re also made in “bad times”.

The fact is that many very successful businesses were started in the depths of the Great Depression.
To test this for yourself, google the phrases ’started in…’ and ‘founded in….’ and plug in the years of that period - 1930 to 1941. You’ll be amazed at how many household names got their start then.
The strange fact is that assuming you have great value to offer and are militant about efficiency and cutting out waste, ‘bad times’ are very good times to start or expand businesses.

Why is this a good time for business builders?
1. Even in the darkest times business goes on. People buy and sell. It never stops. Things never go to zero.
2. Costs are low. Media prices will go down. Rents will go down. There will be great deals on equipment. Talented people will be available for hire at reasonable prices.
3. Many of your competitors will fold - if not in practice, psychologically. They will attribute all their challenges to the ‘bad economy’ and give up, instead of actively seeking solutions and workarounds.
Entrepreneurs who use their minds - and their courage, not just their intellects - will find no shortage of opportunities in the coming months and years.

Warren Buffett “You only learn who has been swimming naked when the tide goes out.”

Love Life, not just the weekends. You only have one life, Live it @ www.NicciAndLee.com

Tags: internet marketing

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 22nd, 2009 at 10:00 am and is filed under internet marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.