UNITED STATES, Feb 06 — Wondering how your year is going to shape up if your phone hasn’t been ringing off the hook with new clients? Today’s economy has thrown some people into a tailspin with worries about recession, and many businesses are experiencing a slow down.Have you ever considered that a slow month or two could be your chance to sow the seeds for a very prosperous rest of the year?I grew up in a farming community, and so it wasn’t uncommon to pass a field that had been high with a crop the year before that was now lying unkempt and untended. It wasn’t forgotten or wasted. Remember, new content helps to keep your site high in the search engine rankings
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ondering how your year is going to shape up if your phone hasn’t been ringing off the hook with new clients? Today’s economy has thrown some people into a tailspin with worries about recession, and many businesses are experiencing a slow down.
Have you ever considered that a slow month or two could be your chance to sow the seeds for a very prosperous rest of the year?
I grew up in a farming community, and so it wasn’t uncommon to pass a field that had been high with a crop the year before that was now lying unkempt and untended. It wasn’t forgotten or wasted. It was lying fallow for a season. “Resting” an acre or two is a long-established farming practice to allow the land to replenish all of the nutrients that crops have depleted.
So what does that have to do with marketing? These days, a lot. I hear many small business owners commiserating about how slow it was in December and that for them, it may not have picked back up yet. Not a lot of new orders. Delays on in-process work. Fallow ground.
This is absolutely the best chance you may have all year to tend to your own marketing. Just think about it. People aren’t quite back from the holiday mindset, or they’re being cautious—whatever the reason, you’ve got more of that most precious of commodities: time.
How will you use the fallow time? For me, any unexpected pause is a godsend because it lets me update my website, write new press releases, dream up new promotional work for my virtual assistants, or finish editing a transcript. These are all things that are difficult to find the time to do for myself when I’m working full-tilt for my clients. Fallow days or weeks let me strengthen my own marketing foundation. I’ve found that it is an investment that pays off all throughout the year.
So what are five marketing tasks you can do in this fallow time to strengthen your marketing position for 2009? You could: • Inquire about speaking to a local business association to get in front of prospects and be top of mind for when they start to buy (and they inevitably will begin buying again, sooner or later) • Write two or three press releases to spark media coverage, a feature article or an event listing to keep your company name visible • Update your media list to make sure your releases are reaching the right reporters. Hint: As you call to update, this is a great time to renew your relationship with reporters, ask what they’re working on and offer to be a resource. • Record a new audio or video greeting for your website to keep it fresh. Remember, new content helps to keep your site high in the search engine rankings. • Write a couple extra blog posts to entice more readers (prospects) to your blog • Send out your media pitch to half a dozen radio stations offering to be a guest with expert tips on how listeners can solve a problem or create an opportunity
While a “slow” month can be frustrating, it can pay long-term dividends when you invest the time in your own marketing and promotion. You’ll look back on the year-long rewards and welcome the next slow period so you can sow the seeds for new opportunities!
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Wondering how your year is going to shape up if your phone hasn’t been ringing off the hook with new clients? Today’s economy has thrown some people into a tailspin with worries about recession, and many businesses are experiencing a slow down.
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