Tough News Week

You can cruise along doing what you do well.  One week the tap shuts off and almost nobody shows up.  What did you do wrong?  Often nothing.  I feel the crunch too.  When I come to your store and you’ve had a tough week, or a slow month, it can affect the business I write with you.

Whenever I sense that vibe, I can usually look at recent headlines and see stories that caused fear in the local, national or international marketplace.  This week, industry news includes slumping rough prices and poor results from the June Hong Kong Jewellery Show.  In the US, Obama’s health care reforms could result in another $1.5 trillion in additional debt.  Even though Washington has little to do with Williams Lake, and Antwerp has little to do with Abbottsford, a bad news day can cast a dark shadow on consumer confidence and business confidence here in Canada.

At one point in my career I used to track my sales on a weekly basis and fret over every dip, and try not to get too excited about a good week.  More recently I’ve cast my goals and my marketing plans further into the future, so I wait until I’ve finished fully executing the long-term plan before I judge my success.  I’ve published blogs about doing marketing that gives you specific measurable results, but I’ve also revealed that all marketing and advertising should be part of at least a one-year plan.

The only thing constant is change.  We can’t predict what tomorrow’s headlines will be or how people react to them.  We can control our own reactions.  We can keep positive when others are negative.  We can spend when others are “pulling in their belts.”  We can refuse to participate in pity-parties when conversations center around how tough things are.  The most successful businesses are those who found ways to prosper during tough times (I can just imagine many of you nodding your heads at your own experiences.)  Next week the news will be good, then it will be bad, then it will be good again.  Are you going to buy into it or are you going to just operate your system and then see how your master plan unfolds?