So it's 2009....The Economy is Dreadful....Now What?

You are freshly into 2009, so first: HAPPY NEW YEAR. Now that you have put away the noisemakers, deleted those embarrassing pictures from your camera and gotten over the hangovers, you have to be ready to start the first quarter of the year. It’s time for you to get VERY serious about your business.

You’ve heard all the scary stories about what the future will bring for businesses in the most precarious economy of our time. Stop being afraid and DO SOMETHING. This is opportunity time and to use an old term, we’ll finally “separate the men from the boys” – in short, the pros from the hacks and wannabes.

The bottom line is the companies with the best value, service and name recognition will get new customers and retain their old ones. And it’s not just hotels, casinos, restaurants and clubs, it’s the “little guys”, the small businesses that make up this town: From the independent shops at the District to the stores at Sunset at Galleria to the ones at Fashion Show Mall….From the local Chinese restaurant to the local dry cleaners, nail salons, dentists, etc.

So, keep the following in mind: you absolutely don’t need to spend a lot of money. Forget almost EVERYTHING you’ve learned about needing to spend a percentage of your revenue on marketing. That is an old model (like Cheryl Tiegs, but I digress). With the variety of marketing methods available to you today, you can spend hundreds not thousands of dollars over the course of a year and STILL get a real return. But it is KEY to focus and decide what you want to accomplish:

Brand Awareness – Who are you and what does your company do?

New Customer Acquisition – Revenue Generation

Re-launching of Your Company – You’ve been in business but need to rework your name, your website, your strategies and more to reflect changes in your company’s direction

Launching a new product or service – You may be known for one particular product or service but have branched out

Staging an event that will draw attention to your company

In 2009, I want to answer YOUR questions to the challenges YOU face with your business. While reading about pop culture, the arts and celebrities is fun, it’s not going to put money in your bank account. And as hard as you worked in previous years, you’ll need to work harder still to survive and then THRIVE this year and next. Focus on the goal and not the process of how to get your sales up.

Send me your questions at MaryAnnButcher@LVRedCarpet.com and we’ll print your question and my response right here. You’ll also receive a crystal Red Carpet Marketing paperweight for your office.

Now more than ever: DON’T BE THE BEST KEPT SECRET! ®

Mary Ann McQueen Butcher

Red Carpet Marketing, LLC
www.LVRedCarpet.com
702 994-7282

Red Carpet Marketing, LLC is a full service media, marketing, advertising, public relations and promotional services company. It targets small to medium sized companies in need of marketing expertise; specifically the companies that cannot afford a marketing department, a publicist or an agency.