More on how to riiiide out the economic storm brewing on the horizon
Email Players subscriber AS (not sure he wants to be identified) asks the timely question:
Hey there Ben,
I’ve got a quick question. My sales have started to slump lately (despite having a bigger email list than ever with leads culled from a variety of sources) and apart from perhaps making offers that people just aren’t feeling at the moment – something I know I can control and fix relatively easily – I worry that with the economic situation the way it is and inflation going through the roof, people are simply becoming more cautious when it comes to buying.
In addition to self-publishing books on Amazon, doing more podcast interviews/publicity, etc. to increase my celebrity authority status do you have any other suggestions you could make regarding using this economic uncertainty to my advantage?
Thank you in advance, and sorry if this email ran a little long.
My reply to him:
“Triple down on what works, up your game, focus on sharpening your skills, and ride out the storm. When it’s over realize a lot of businesses you compete with probably won’t still be standing.”
To that I will add something else.
Something I heard in one of John Carlton’s “Scuttlebutt Tapes”
(Recorded back in 2002, I think)
He was talking to Gary Halbert in the interview.
And Gary talked about how he did road work (running, jogging walking) every day, and how the worse, more nasty, and harsher the weather… the more he enjoyed doing it, simply because he knew nobody else had to the stones to be out there doing it at the same time.
It’s not about obsessing over what you can’t control.
Weather, economy, government & corporate-sanctioned child abuse, etc.
It’s about doing the work.
Day in and day out.
No matter what.
Whether you want to or not, are inspired or not, or “feel” like it or not.
And then, for added motivation:
Pulling a Halbert and realizing you will be one of a very few businesses out there doing the work every day, and taking a perverse glee in it, along with a (I believe healthy) sense of superiority over all those lazy bums who can’t be bothered to show up every day, and spend more time worrying about the storm instead of riding it out and even profiting from it.
How riding it out will look will depend on you.
But, for most of us it means things like:
- Investing in MORE (not less) education about making more sales, acquiring more business, etc
- Investing in MORE lead gen (time and/or money if paid lead gen is your thing)
- Adjusting your offers (switching to digital to offset rising costs in printing and mailing if you have slim profit margins, more upsells, introducing services or coaching, strategic JV’s, etc)
- Ruthlessly cut out all “jiggle” from your life (social media, cable news, toxic people, time wasters, normies who hold you back, etc)
- And the list goes on
A few will do this. The vast majority won’t. But if you are one of the few, that should give you comfort. And, not a little more arrogant satisfaction…
If you want to “ride out” the storm with Yours Unruly, check out Email Players.
It’s literally what I am doing, thinking, applying to my own business month after month.
Here’s the link:
Ben Settle
