09-10-2008, 05:46 PM
Hola. Disculpas a los colegas que no hablan/entienden inglés. No sabía dónde publicarlo. De todos modos, no quise dejarlo pasar porque me pareció interesante, más aún en estos tiempos de turbulencia financiera y en conexión con el hilo de Gueibor llamado "Gran duda gran".
Lo "robé" de un correo e- que me llegó con el asunto: Get Clients Now Oct 2008: Nothing to Fear But Fear Itself (info@getclientsnow.com)
Saludos.
mm
Nothing to Fear But Fear Itself
C.J. Hayden, MCC
====================================================
There's no question that the economic news of the past few weeks
has been alarming. The stock market has dropped, unemployment is
up, and consumer spending is down. We're seeing banks and
brokerage houses collapse, retirement account values plummet,
and working families lose their homes. It's pretty scary stuff
for independent professionals why rely on other people's budgets
and spending habits to pay their own bills.
In the depths of the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt
declared in his inaugural speech, "The only thing we have to
fear is fear itself." He described that fear as the "nameless,
unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts
to convert retreat into advance." FDR's message was that the
real danger was not the economic conditions themselves, but the
prospect that we would become immobilized by our fear of them.
Even in ordinary times, fear can be one of the most powerful
saboteurs of marketing. When we fear rejection, we avoid making
follow-up calls or asking for the sale. When we fear
embarrassment, we avoid networking or public speaking. And when
we fear failure, we avoid taking action that might also lead to
our success. Believing that "nobody's buying right now" can turn
those words into a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Instead of letting fear of an economic slowdown immobilize you,
try using it to energize you. Here are six steps you can take to
counteract fear and keep your marketing on track.
1. Step up your marketing instead of stepping back. Now is the
time to do more marketing rather than less. If you've been
attending one networking event per month, make it two or three.
If you haven't been reaching out to likely referral sources
regularly, contact them all, and stay in touch. If you have a
stack of leads you haven't followed up on, pick up the phone.
Identify which marketing approaches have worked well for you in
the past, then start using them more often.
2. Don't let bad news wreck your day. One of my clients was
completely derailed from following his marketing plan twice last
week after reading the morning headlines before starting his
day. I'm not suggesting you put your head in the sand; we should
all try to be informed citizens. But if the news is getting you
down, plan to work on marketing first thing in the morning --
and do it before reading the news, getting online, or checking
your email.
3. Aim for a fuller pipeline. When more people than usual are
saying no, you need to have more people than usual to ask for
the sale. Ask your clients, colleagues, and friends to introduce
you to likely prospects they may know. Make the acquaintance of
influential people with large personal networks. Search out
leads in the trade press, social networks, and professional
associations you belong to. Cast your net more widely than you
have in the past to identify new prospects.
4. Keep a positive attitude and a long-term perspective.
Surround yourself with optimistic, proactive people and stay
away from those who broadcast doom and gloom. Look for
inspiration in stories, music, or films that make you feel
positive and hopeful. Remember that economic downturns have
happened many times in the past, and they don't last forever.
You can't control the economy, but you CAN control your reaction
to it.
5. Evaluate your spending. Scaling back on marketing is the
wrong direction, but make sure you spend marketing dollars
efficiently. A therapist client of mine was paying for listings
in multiple consumer directories. With a full practice, she
could afford this. But when business slowed, she tracked where
her clients were coming from, and cancelled listings that
weren't paying off. You may be able to cut spending on ads,
memberships, and promotions that aren't producing results.
6. Put in place a recession-proof plan for the future. If
despite your best efforts, you find yourself with extra time on
your hands due to a decline in business, use it to implement a
new marketing plan that will serve you in good times and bad.
Institute a regular networking and follow-up schedule, develop
referral partnerships, build up your web presence, or focus on
writing and speaking. Any one of these strategies, employed over
time, can keep your pipeline constantly full.
FDR's advice to a fearful nation was that we should not "shrink
from honestly facing conditions" but also remember that "it can
never be helped merely by talking about it. We must act and act
quickly." The best way to counteract fear of what might go wrong
is to keep taking action that will make things go right.
Lo "robé" de un correo e- que me llegó con el asunto: Get Clients Now Oct 2008: Nothing to Fear But Fear Itself (info@getclientsnow.com)
Saludos.
mm
Nothing to Fear But Fear Itself
C.J. Hayden, MCC
====================================================
There's no question that the economic news of the past few weeks
has been alarming. The stock market has dropped, unemployment is
up, and consumer spending is down. We're seeing banks and
brokerage houses collapse, retirement account values plummet,
and working families lose their homes. It's pretty scary stuff
for independent professionals why rely on other people's budgets
and spending habits to pay their own bills.
In the depths of the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt
declared in his inaugural speech, "The only thing we have to
fear is fear itself." He described that fear as the "nameless,
unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts
to convert retreat into advance." FDR's message was that the
real danger was not the economic conditions themselves, but the
prospect that we would become immobilized by our fear of them.
Even in ordinary times, fear can be one of the most powerful
saboteurs of marketing. When we fear rejection, we avoid making
follow-up calls or asking for the sale. When we fear
embarrassment, we avoid networking or public speaking. And when
we fear failure, we avoid taking action that might also lead to
our success. Believing that "nobody's buying right now" can turn
those words into a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Instead of letting fear of an economic slowdown immobilize you,
try using it to energize you. Here are six steps you can take to
counteract fear and keep your marketing on track.
1. Step up your marketing instead of stepping back. Now is the
time to do more marketing rather than less. If you've been
attending one networking event per month, make it two or three.
If you haven't been reaching out to likely referral sources
regularly, contact them all, and stay in touch. If you have a
stack of leads you haven't followed up on, pick up the phone.
Identify which marketing approaches have worked well for you in
the past, then start using them more often.
2. Don't let bad news wreck your day. One of my clients was
completely derailed from following his marketing plan twice last
week after reading the morning headlines before starting his
day. I'm not suggesting you put your head in the sand; we should
all try to be informed citizens. But if the news is getting you
down, plan to work on marketing first thing in the morning --
and do it before reading the news, getting online, or checking
your email.
3. Aim for a fuller pipeline. When more people than usual are
saying no, you need to have more people than usual to ask for
the sale. Ask your clients, colleagues, and friends to introduce
you to likely prospects they may know. Make the acquaintance of
influential people with large personal networks. Search out
leads in the trade press, social networks, and professional
associations you belong to. Cast your net more widely than you
have in the past to identify new prospects.
4. Keep a positive attitude and a long-term perspective.
Surround yourself with optimistic, proactive people and stay
away from those who broadcast doom and gloom. Look for
inspiration in stories, music, or films that make you feel
positive and hopeful. Remember that economic downturns have
happened many times in the past, and they don't last forever.
You can't control the economy, but you CAN control your reaction
to it.
5. Evaluate your spending. Scaling back on marketing is the
wrong direction, but make sure you spend marketing dollars
efficiently. A therapist client of mine was paying for listings
in multiple consumer directories. With a full practice, she
could afford this. But when business slowed, she tracked where
her clients were coming from, and cancelled listings that
weren't paying off. You may be able to cut spending on ads,
memberships, and promotions that aren't producing results.
6. Put in place a recession-proof plan for the future. If
despite your best efforts, you find yourself with extra time on
your hands due to a decline in business, use it to implement a
new marketing plan that will serve you in good times and bad.
Institute a regular networking and follow-up schedule, develop
referral partnerships, build up your web presence, or focus on
writing and speaking. Any one of these strategies, employed over
time, can keep your pipeline constantly full.
FDR's advice to a fearful nation was that we should not "shrink
from honestly facing conditions" but also remember that "it can
never be helped merely by talking about it. We must act and act
quickly." The best way to counteract fear of what might go wrong
is to keep taking action that will make things go right.