Plus three recession-proofing strategies to implement now and our FREE Marketing in a recession eBook!
Posted by Ashley
“A Recession is coming! A Recession is coming!” It seems like everywhere we go, there’s some voice shouting out the warning of a recession looming on the horizon. You can’t open a news site, turn on the tv, or scroll through social media without at least a dozen modern-day Paul Reveres crying out into the night with their warning of a coming disaster. We’re being bombarded with these economic doomsday prophecies about a coming recession. And, yeah, I get it; the word ‘recession’ is pretty scary.
One thing that makes this recession, so anxiety-inducing is that we’re all still recovering from the collective trauma of the past several years. Maybe even the past decade. Or some of us might still be recovering from the last recession. That’s too much! And actually, it really is too much for your brain from a neuroscience perspective. The human brain developed only to have the capacity to handle the crises of our small communities adequately. We quite literally do not have the ability to process grief, chaos, or trauma on this large of a scale.
You might be asking yourself where I’m going with this, but I promise there’s a point! Evolutionarily we’re wired to only be able to come to deal with and process what goes on in our village, but that isn’t a failing of evolution. It’s actually a good thing. Because while we only have the capacity for processing chaos on a small scale, it means that we have the capacity to find solutions, solve problems, and lean on those around us for support. And those you lean on were designed to not just help you fix what’s broken but also to help you emotionally process the weight and implications of whatever chaos has visited upon you.
I bring this up when talking about a recession because today, we pretty much live the opposite of that. We’re statistically more disconnected than we have ever been in history from our fellow human beings while being able to witness in live time the tremendous pain and suffering happening everywhere all of the time, 24/7, 365, with a live chat so everyone can voice their opinions and outrage before they’ve even had a chance for their brain to process what they’re seeing.
I hope you’re starting to see where I’m going with this.
Maybe constantly stalking our Twitter feed or watching irate news presenters isn’t the healthiest thing we could be doing…
This isn’t me shaming anyone; we all find ourselves doom-scrolling. We’re curious beings who are literally programmed to survive. Any potential threat to our safety puts us on high alert, and sometimes, searching out as much information, and as many facts as we can find makes us feel like we’re doing something to protect ourselves. But it can also do the opposite and make us incredibly paranoid.
By now, you’re probably asking yourself, “okay, fine, but a recession is coming, and what am I supposed to do?” I am so glad you asked! Because you’re right, you can do so many things to help protect your business and your sanity from a coming recession, but they all should start now. This is why I wanted to explore why some of the ways we’ve been preparing might not be the best for our well-being.
So think of this blog as your hunter-gatherer village, rallying behind you with some helpful advice and a few tools that will give you the peace of mind you want and the solutions you need.
We’ve prepared a handy little eBook all about marketing in a recession and why the way you market will almost certainly determine whether your business thrives during a recession. You can download that to find out so much more about the topics of what a recession is, how we got here, how the media uses fear-mongering to keep you from making proactive decisions, as well as how to build a marketing strategy for today and tomorrow and what areas to focus on. It’s going to be an incredible resource for you to have on hand as you begin to make these decisions.
But to give you a brief overview of the eBook, here are the top three things you should start now to better prepare for tomorrow:
Get Intimate With Your Numbers – Did you know that 82% of small businesses fail because of cash flow issues? That’s a pretty scary big number. This eBook dives into this topic a little more in-depth to set you up for success.
Clarify Your Message -The challenge with that in any kind of economic crisis is that people, i.e., your customers, are looking for credibility, trust, and stability. Taking some time now to clarify your message means you’ll have time to establish the reputation your message conveys before the proverbial fan is hit.
Know Your Ideal Client – There are four types of customers specific to recessions. eBook breaks down these recession client types to help you understand how you can create a marketing strategy.
Let me give you a little bit of a hopeful perspective: The US has been through a lot of recessions in its time, and that means that every fortune 500 company out there has survived at least one recession. Your business can too! Want to know how all those businesses survived? They didn’t panic; they made a plan, acted on it, and marketed well. You are totally capable of doing the same.
If you’d like even more tips or a better understanding of what a recession means and how to survive one, we’d love to invite you to download our free Marketing in a recession eBook below.
And if, after you read the eBook, you’re ready to take your Marketing to the next level, Pulse is here to help. Give us a call before you get to the tunnel, and never lose sight of the light on the other side.
Sources:
HBR.com
Entrepreneur.com
Forbes.com
Linkedin.com
TheBalanceMoney.com
Foreignpolicy.com
CNN.com