Something2Think About

Recently I learned of a fellow business owner who wanted to start doing some advertising.  His company had been busy for years, but recently his business had slowed down significantly. The phones weren’t ringing. The orders for work had stopped.  Enter the “famine” phase of the feast-famine cycle in commerce.

Naturally, he thought this would be the perfect time to start advertising in an effort to return to the full-plate part of the feast-famine cycle.

How does this “cycle” happen?  We get busy.  We get accustomed to keeping a fast pace and aggressively provide a product or service people need or want. So, our focus is on getting the current work done and getting on to the next project.  We also feel secure with the volume of projects in the chute and those on which we’re currently working.

Business is good. Volume is up. We have peace about it all. UNTIL . . . we experience a work slowdown, things begin to get quiet, and occasionally come to a screeching halt.  

Shift This Mentality4Better Results

Unfortunately, this is the stage when the ad people are called. This is when you check on your Google campaigns, or nose around the sales department, if you have one. Well, when work slows down, and things get quiet, you may decide “it’s time to advertise” . . . it’s too late.  

You’ve allowed your hectic production pace to shield the reality that you must pay attention to the marketing funnel constantly.  No doubt you’ve probably put in huge amounts of time and effort to build your brand and your sales. That’s exactly why you need to maintain your on-going marketing spending to safeguard your company for the future. Waiting until times get bad, never works. Remember this: When times are good, you should advertise. When times are bad, you must advertise.

It's easier to dial something up than to start from scratch.  That’s always true.

Keep an eye on your marketing processes even when things are good and business is booming.  Reacting to a slowdown is just that – reacting.  Be ahead of that pattern and implement marketing and advertising best practices before you have a slowdown or critical need.  If there’s one thing I’ve learned . . . you can’t control when that next piece of business comes into your world.  But you can control the bold steps of marketing or advertising to capitalize on your success.

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