Summary
Is "70% Yes and 30% No" a Good Deciding Probability? Is it possible to Inflation proof your marketing? All of these will be discussed in this month's newsletter.
Dave's Impactful Thought/Tip for the Month
I was listening to an interview where the guest was Sam Dogen who runs Financial Samurai.
There were three important things I think he said, and a couple that I disagree with after working with my financial advisor for years which has allowed my wife to retire pretty early in life. (No, I don't plan on retiring anytime soon, I'd go stir crazy watching Hallmark movies and HGTV shows...)
1. The average bear market is a year in length and goes down 35%.
- this is the one I agree with and it's important to keep the markets in their proper perspective, which is a long-term view. I've been around for alot of years, and thought the internet bubble, 911, the Great Recession, and the pandemic were "unprecedented" and was a cause for concern long-term. As you know, although there was alot of pain, the economy recovered quite nicely after each of them. Of course this isn't a guarantee of what will happen in this crazy inflationary environment, but you get my point. Unfortunately, my youngest son does not...yet...
2. The way to outperform in a recession is to continue to live your best life.
- this is partially true, but I'd say from a business perspective, you've got to allow your clients to live THEIR best life. Continue to provide more and extra value to them. Understand and help them achieve their goals. Zig Ziglar said,
"You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want."
Work in your strengths as much as possible and hire out the rest, as this will allow you to live your best life and still have your business meet the needs of your clients. (See our HireMyVA White Glove service).
3. Decision making - make a decision when the probability of you being right is 70% yes and 30% no, and realize 3/10 times you'll be wrong.
- This is WAY too general of a statement. When you're making a decision, you've got to think about the cost of being wrong. For example, when you buy a house, you need to be more into the 90% range as the cost of making a mistake here is alot (although this does depend somewhat on your financial situation). Same with your choice of spouse. Same with your choise of business partner.
- Yet there are other decisions that have much less risk and many fall into this category, and likely you'll be fine making decisions when you're only 51% sure of it being right. Like what article to write about, what external microphone to buy, will this be a good book to read, what to order for lunch, etc.
Well, hope you enjoy my musings here, but the important thing is to think about the advice people are giving you!
August Social Media Calendar! #falliscoming
Again, we have a social media calendar for you this month, so you don't have to think about what to put on your social media.
There isn't any official holiday this month but that doesn't mean that there is nothing to post about. This is the month to be creative! Check out these quirky "made-up" hoildays and try to use them as inspiration on what to post.
Still have no idea what to post? Try these hashtags:
- #backtoschool
- internationalbeerday
- #eatwellinaugust
- #farewellsummer
- #ttylsummer
- #fallingintofall
How to "inflation-proof" your marketing
It started with creeping grocery store prices, but now inflation is everywhere we look. The latest Consumer Price Index confirmed what many of us suspected: Inflation, may be slowing down (even that's up for debate), but it's not going anywhere for a while.
So how can you tackle these economic pressures? Through MARKETING.
1. Take advantage of technology to understand your customers.
The pandemic spurred the rapid adoption of e-commerce, and people are buying online more than ever. In 2021, over 2.14 billion consumers bought a product or service online - about a twofold increase from past years. This opens up a treasure of information about customers.
2. Communicate early and authentically
Picture this: You show up to your favorite neighborhood restaurant, and when you get the bill, your usual go-to is significantly more expensive. You love this local spot, but now you're leaving feeling a little conflicted because you weren't expecting the price hike. This is going to be a common experience as inflation lingers throughout the year.
Want more "PRIVACY" when browsing online? Change these settings now!
Give your online privacy a major upgrade by changing a few settings in Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge or Brave. How?
1. Try changing your default search engine.
DuckDuckGo is a good alternative. It may not be as great as google but it's the go-to-choice among privacy-minded.
2. Disable the following from your browser settings
-Location tracking
-Autocomplete features
-Password autofills
3. Regularly delete your browsing history
4. Use a PAID VPN (emphasis on PAID)
