Five Secrets of Success in a Down Economy

Whether your company is large or small, when you offer a valuable product or service you can succeed. Even in a down economy. You may work with a franchise, or promote skills as a consultant. You may work as an employee of a local firm or promote products that are household names. Whatever your labors, apply the following principles and your business will excel.

1)                 Love Your Job: When you really enjoy what you do, you look forward to the jangle of the alarm clock, each morning. If you feel numb, bored, chronically tired or even depressed when thinking about work, change either your attitude or your profession. OK – maybe love is too strong a word. Maybe enthusiasm or respect fit our professional lives better. But, whatever vocation you invest in, make sure it has long-term appeal.   

2)                 The Customer is King: Whatever you do for a living, the customer is always king. Remember, a client will “chat up” forty people about a bad experience but only twenty when singing your praises. Once, I made the mistake of asking a customer to go to the rear of the line to return her product, instead of shoving in front of 8 people that were already waiting ahead of her. It seemed a reasonable request for courtesy, until I got a letter from the corporate CEO…her father! In an effort to get me fired, he sent a dozen “secret shoppers” into my department to test my customer service skills. This backfired and I hit five stars for customer excellence in record time. It taught me an important lesson. When the customer is treated like gold, gold flows into your pocket.

3)                 Get Your Company Name Out: A “down economy” is a great time to advertise or promote PR. Why? Because no one else is doing it. Your company name is emblazoned across the local business horizon, just as others timidly retract all mention of products and services. This pays off with great dividends, over time. And, don’t kid yourself; it has short-term benefits, too. When you follow-up an article, ad or press release with a phone campaign (either B2B or B2C), the chances of closing a sale double and triple. So, don’t hide in the shadows during a down economy. Leap into the spotlight and benefit by being center stage!

4)                 Take Time to Serve: Serving your community during hard times builds loyalty and generates great word-of-mouth. Pick something you really enjoy, like the local Boys and Girls Club, your regional library or the city shelter for family support. You won’t need to donate money, either. Just go dressed in company T-shirts or wearing in-office nametags. Then, you can rake leaves, repaint walls or collect cans of food, while quietly advertising that your company cares! It’s amazing how many appreciative people you meet when serving. Out-of-the-blue your firm may be nominated for an award or receive unexpected encomiums. Most often these acts of service are their own reward.

5)                 Embrace an Honest Work Ethic: This doesn’t mean working harder. It means working with street-smart old-fashioned ethics. During a down economy it’s especially important to give honor where honor is due. Keep an eye out for those that make creative contributions, work overtime or provide consistent cheerful support. When you recognize those that go the extra mile, team members close ranks. They work even harder to make sure your company succeeds. Taking the blame yourself (when appropriate) and giving praise to others when they excel creates an atmosphere of loyal teamwork that sets you firmly on the yellow brick road. By the way, this is a great time to catch “kudo thieves” and send them packing. Employees that stab their fellows in the back to gain points or ride rough shod over other team members (gossip is an overused tool) are better employed by your competitors. During hard times, you don’t need the chaos they cause.

Applying these five secrets can promote lasting success. You may be surprised by the harmony, even the serendipity, which follows! 

Finding the Courage to Write by Dave Wolverton

I decided to begin writing at the age of 17. I bought a used typewriter and began my first fantasy novel--a story about a young wizard who goes to a magic school.

I was terrified that someone might actually read it, so I hid the manuscript under my mattress. I’ve sometimes imagined my mother’s reaction when, upon changing my sheets, she felt that suspicious pad of paper. “Oh, what kind of a twisted little pervert am I raising?” she might have wondered. Imagine her surprise when she pulled out the wad and found that instead of reading Playboy, I was writing a novel!

(I can hear her muttering under her breath, “What kind of twisted little nerd am I raising?”)

A year later, I moved out of the house--mainly so that I could write without getting caught. One day a friend dropped by and noticed my nicely typed manuscript sitting next to my typewriter. “Oh, you’re writing a book!” he said enthusiastically. “Let me see!” But as he reached for the manuscript, instinct took control, and I did a belly flop on the table in order to hide my labors.

That was many millions of words ago. Yet I see people with similar fears every day. Once a father brought his son to one of my signings, a young man who was secretly writing his own novel. Dad knew, and was trying to get him to come out of the closet.

A good friend of mine wrote five novels before he got the courage to submit one to a publisher. (It was a great book, and it became a bestseller!) A young author I met at a panel was shaking when she sat down. I asked if she was all right, and she said, “I’m afraid that they’ll know that I’m not really an writer.”

This fear of showing your work is common. It’s similar to one of our most fundamental fears--that of speaking in public. Oddly enough, surveys show that more people are afraid of speaking in public than of dying. But if you’re going to live your dream, if you’re going to become a bestseller, you need to show your work to the whole world. You’ll need to develop the guts to show your work to a critique group.

You’ll need to find the courage to send your story to an editor. You’ll need to find the inner resolve to read the reviews of critics, and to stand against the tides of public opinion. You’ll need to brave a book signing on a cold winter’s day when no one will show up. You’ll need to dig deep and find the strength to quit your day job and take the risk of making storytelling your profession. It won’t be comfortable. You might even regret it. But I suspect that you’ll regret it more bitterly if you never try.

So here’s writing tip number one: Begin developing courage today. Stop doing swan dives on your keyboard. If you’re really insecure, show your story to someone who loves you. Maybe you could tell your colleagues at work or at school that you want to be a writer. Tell your parents what you’ve got hidden under your mattress. If you feel safe enough, join a writing group. If you’re beyond that stage, send a manuscript out to an editor--a really scary one. But whatever you resolve to do, do it today!