Some say we are in a recession. Others say we haven’t had any negative growth yet through the 2nd quarter of 2008 and you need 2 consecutive quarters of negative GDP for a textbook recession. The financial and credit markets are predictors of the future and they are telling us that, any way you want to measure it, 2009 will be a year of recession

Does this mean to go and hideout in a bunker until the weather clears? If you do, this will be a mistake which you will regret for a very long time. Tough times call for action, not passivity. It calls for greater precision and targeting for the most efficient and ROI-driven strategies to maintain and improve your sales and profits. Yes, I said improve … even in a recession.

The following from Emarketer was just released showing the estimates of online advertising spending growth:

The doom and gloom crowd don’t believe these numbers and therefore won’t share them with you as we are here. However, according to a June McKinsey & Co. survey of 340 senior marketing executives worldwide, 91% are using online advertising, and over one-half indicate that their companies plan to maintain or exceed current levels where possible. Even more telling, 55% of marketers said they’re cutting expenditures on traditional media, precisely in order to increase funding for online efforts.

Why is this? Why do marketing experts believe that shifting precious marketing dollars online and taking away from the traditional media is the way to go? It all comes down to results.

Here are the key reasons for the phenomenon:

1. The buyer is finding your website as a result of their personal initiative; all at a time and place of their choosing. Traditional media reach less than .05% of their target market at enormous cost; this is the quintessential example of inefficiency and waste and cannot be tolerated by all those on a tight marketing budget.
2. The web is, more than anything else, an instrument of measurement. Therefore it is vastly more measurable and accountable than traditional methods.
3. The web is clearly more targeted and provides us much granularity as the buyer or the seller desires. The information is all there and always available.
4. The web is just simply gaining viewer time. Traditional media commercials are ignored or “fast-forwarded” using new technology. When online, viewers are in buyer mode when searching for a product or service; they have the confidence that the web / Google et al will lead them to the right information and the right purchase.
5. Traditional media provide you only the information they want you to know in the time or space they are allowed. The web provides no barrier; buyers can check out products, prices, terms and conditions. They can use the social media and other supportive tools to gain the confidence and peace of mind they need before making a buying decision.

So here is what you need to do to overcome the challenge of recession:

1. Improve your Internet Marketing Strategy. This includes many factors:

a. Hire an Internet Marketing Company
b. Generate a game plan to generate targeted traffic through SEO (Search Engine Optimization), Sponsored Search or PPC (Pay per Click).
c. Make a major commitment to content with the company you select. Content is life-blood of quality SEO results.
d. Improve your website to optimize conversions as well. The right SEO Company will actually include this service as an integral part of Search Engine Marketing and Website Design.

2. Start e-publishing a monthly newsletter for your existing clientèle. Keep your name in front of your customers and new prospects that sign up through the sign-up on your website.

3. Consider Affiliate Marketing - depending on your business, you can take advantage of thousands of online sales agents that only earn a commission after the sale is made or the lead is generated … a true meritocracy.

Do all of these things and more and you will be found by precisely those people who are seeking your products and services.

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

“A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline.”
(Harvey Mackay Americas top#5 business man, motivational and international speaker)

None of the above will happen if you don’t have the right mindset. Your mind acts in ways that you don’t even realise are happening. In fact, sometimes your mind is like an invisible wall or invisible barrier. Have you ever spent a long time learning something and wondered why it has never sunk in?

If you are asked something new or something different than the norm, do you say to yourself ‘I can’t do that’?

If you’ve ever found yourself doing this, then you know what it’s like when your invisible barrier mkes itself known to you.

If you are one of those people who says “I wonder how I can do that” or “I can do that if I do such and such” then you WILL be a success. You are hurdling or pushing that invisible barrier out of the way.

Just having the mindset alone will change your future, because you won’t be stopping yourself. You won’t be putting up invisible barriers.

Sometimes we don’t know everything all at once (we sometimes like to think we do!), so we just have to learn along the way. It doesn’t mean we can’t do it, it just means we can do what we know for now, and learn everything else as we go.

How you look at something will determine how successful you will be.

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