Message From jl

Hi Everyone!

Instead of writing this series of articles on breaking through the economic turn-down, I think I should have written a book. The more I write, the more I think of to share with you.

I've been giving you very practical and workable ideas. Don't forget what I used to do. For 15 years I was a turn-around specialist for small to mid-size companies trying to avoid bankruptcy.

When I would go into my clients' businesses, first, I had to cut expenses, then, I had to increase sales and profit. Over 15 years, quite a lot of interesting things were done.

I usually approached it the same way I've been presenting it to you. First, a look at the personal expenses and what could change. If clients were taking too much out of their companies and the books didn't support that, their whole family had to be involved. (That sometimes got ugly.)

On the personal level, I forgot to mention a couple of things, last week.

The first is bottled water. That's another of the ridiculous things folks started throwing money away on. It's expensive - try arriving at a figure of what you spend on bottled water in a year. It'll scare you.

Instead, if you're really concerned about tap water, buy a Pur filter - or one of the other brands. Fill a large pitcher with filtered water, put it in the refrigerator and drink that. If you insist on carrying water everywhere you go, you can get all kinds of containers for that.

I also forgot to give you this link to a great coupon site:

www.couponmom.com

None of this should be thought of as “penny-pinching.” These cut-backs are just cutting fat. We're looking at where we've allowed things we really don't need to get out of hand.

We can also cut back on some of our services. I remember the day when folks cleaned their own homes AND worked. So ask yourself ...

Can I do this myself?

Then, don't get carried away with anything. Cut back - not out!

Save the money on larger things such as I mentioned last week. You'll save more, faster than trying to squeeze an extra few cents out of every little thing.

We also don't want to put small businesses OUT of business. This is the ripple effect that penny-pinching is having on the livelihoods of others.

Small businesses aren't getting bail-out money from the government. We don't want to make the OVER-ALL economy even worse by causing small business people to lose their companies.

Adding to the over-all problem will only make things worse - not better. So, sound judgment must be used. We MUST look at the big picture.

Large corporations will come out of this one way or another. They all take care of their own, and they'll continue to do so, whether we hear about it, or not.

SMALL businesses didn't cause this problem. They aren't the liars, cheats and thieves. So, let's not punish them. Small business people should ALSO be helping each other!

Adjusting Your Business

I don't mean to seem negative, but we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg of financial problems, right now. I suppose a miracle could happen, but we need to be realistic and be prepared for the good Lord to say, “You got yourself into it - you get yourself out of it.”

So, now is the time to be a good scout and be prepared. Do the things now that will help later. Start now - don't wait until you're in a crunch.

Most of all - don't panic! You'll only make mistakes.

First, do everything you can to continue to show your ethics, credibility and customer service.

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Of the following, not everything will apply to every business, so pick and choose what will work for you. The solution lies in trimming the expenses. But, this is just good business any time!

First, a big one: either pay or negotiate your debt down as low as you can get it. You can negotiate a lower interest rate and/or a longer payment schedule.

Normally, extending the length of a debt isn't the best business in the world, since you'll be paying more interest over-all. But, if the lower payments will get you through a crunch, that makes it money well spent.

You'll also find that you can often negotiate the amount of a debt DOWN considerably if you can pay it off immediately. Don't forget - other companies are also hurting, and immediate cash speaks loudly.

Go over your books - check every business expense you have. Can you get it for less? Don't hurt yourself there - don't go for an INFERIOR product. That will cost you more in the long run.

I often hear, “I'm just not doing enough business online.” Well, why not?

Sometimes, it's lack of promotion. Sometimes, it's not having the right product. The kind of economy we're facing now has its own special needs.

The nice thing about working online is that it's SO easy to add new products. We are never stuck in a particular niche.

Find something new to sell - something folks can't live without in this economy. “How to ...” book sales go sky high in an economy where folks need to save money.

Advertise! We all need traffic. But, be careful of the traffic exchanges. You don't want to find yourself with a product being shown from your site that's unacceptable. The po*rn merchants get into that.

I doubt folks will stop buying online. BUT - if I were charging “shipping and handling,” I'd cut it to the bone. The one thing that will make me get off my butt and head to a store is unreasonable S&H costs.

Be prepared to lower your prices. I wouldn't do that at this point. For the moment, have sales – not permanent price cuts.

Just think about it and how you might do it if it becomes necessary. This will help you get your mind set for it, but don't jump the gun on it, just yet.

This can be done in many ways. Start working on a plan, now.

This next one may seem a little tricky. You may not want to do it, because it's been drilled into our heads that we must offer refunds to make a sale.

Unfortunately we bought into this with every product. Now, consider this ...

You can NOT return a CD that has been opened. You can NOT return a video that has been opened. You can NOT return software that has been opened.

So, why do we give refunds on digital products we can't make the buyer return? That's nuts!

If you sell digital products, and you give a long-term guarantee, I'll guarantee you will soon find people asking for refunds who bought the products MONTHS ago. They need the cash and it's an easy way to get it - all the while, THEY still have your product.

We can all live with the occasional refund. It's part of doing business. But, with what's coming, it will become a common occurrence to buy and ask for refunds on digital products.

It's your call. You might want to wait and see if it starts happening to you.

Review your sales letters. As folks have less money to spend, they may become more annoyed at anything they perceive as a hard sell. Be sure you are addressing the concerns and/or needs they have NOW - not something that's no longer appropriate.

At the risk of repeating myself, scams are going to increase. If you have your own merchant account, you might want to consider getting rid of it.

Read: Credit Card Fraud by Rick Beneteau

And: Using a Third Party Merchant Account by jl scott

Use PayPal and 2CheckOut instead. Not only will it save you bundles of money not to have all the erroneous costs of a merchant account, it'll also save you LOTS of time - and grief.

In addition to the facts in those two articles, we now have another HUGE reason to switch.

Merchant accounts are attached to banks, and we don't know WHICH banks are going to go down over the next months. If your merchant account dies, you could very well lose money, or, at least, have it tied up for months.

2CheckOut is one of the top 10 GROWING companies in the USA. I also know the owner, and I know he'll be paying attention to protect his business.

PayPal is affiliated with Wells Fargo bank. Wells Fargo just BOUGHT Wachovia when Wachovia was going down. So, they may be one of the most stable banks around.

It's all a matter of covering your business butt by using solid business services.

It's possible they'll pull this mess out sooner than expected - but that's an unknown.

I'm still of the opinion that the banks, and other corporate welfare recipients should be forced to do the same things the small business owners have to do - suck it up and run their businesses intelligently and ethically.

These are the same people who have always bitched about their taxes being used for welfare. Now, let's measure what's paid in welfare to moms trying to feed their kids every year to the hundreds of billions these hyenas are demanding to support their living-large lifestyles.

This bailout is a run away train that should never have been started. But then, I'm not an economist, so maybe I'm wrong.

So, like I said, I should have written this as a book. I still have quite a few items on my list of things to discuss for this article, but I guess they'll have to wait until next week.

An air of expectation feels almost palpable world-wide. It's always good when we don't get negative. But, don't be fooled into a do-nothing, or wait-and-see stance. That's what will take you out when reality hits. Play the game. Get ready.

Have a fabulous week and ... keep on keepin' on!

  jl

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