2009 Business Predictions
November 28, 2008 by Colleen Coplick
Filed under Social Media
While all of my US counterparts are recovering from their Turkey hangover, I’m sitting in rainy Vancouver, BC and thinking about the year to come. Predictions are starting to pop up all over the web, but one struck me as particularly poignant, and gave me enough pause that I felt compelled to comment.
Max Kalehoff, VP of Marketing at Clickable, and writer of AttentionMax posted a thoughtful and thought-provoking piece to the MediaPost Online Spin Blog (login required).
Max discusses the need for businesses to trim back their strategies in 2009, and focus more on their purpose. I couldn’t agree more. People are ready for change, and not just in your President Elect.
The advertising industry is experiencing budget cuts, partially due to the economy, but I can’t help but think that it has something to do with this age of transparency and honesty. People are tired of the spin being pushed at them, and anytime a company isn’t completely honest with their consumers, they get called to the mat, loudly and publicly.
2009 is going to signal change in many industries and businesses need to change the way they function if they’re going to survive and succeed. So, what are the fundamental pieces your business needs to focus on in the upcoming year?
- Pare back your strategies. Business does not have to be complicated. You don’t have to have a complicated strategy in order to reach your customers.
- Increase your purpose. What is the point of your business? Can you, or better yet, your employees explain accurately what it is you do and why others should join your company or purchase your product or service? Why do you exist?
- Come back to your core values. What were the values you upheld when you began your business? Are you still true to them today or have you let them slide in the face of striving to succeed?
- Increase your social media interaction, or – god forbid – if you’re not involved in social media yet, get there, and get there now. The advertising industry has changed dramatically. The PR industry isn’t the same, and media is in a constant state of flux and change. Your competition will leave you in a cloud of honesty, transparency, and brilliant, yet subtle, salesmanship.
What are your plans/predictions for business in the coming year? Add your thoughts in the comments and I’ll add them to my list and credit you.
I dont think you should pare back, take advantage of the fact that your competition is paring back, so customers will not see or hear about them. You want to be top of mind now and in the future when they have more money to spend.
I do like the idea of expanding your purpose and coming back to your core values.
Dr. Wright
The wright Place TV Show
http://www.wrightplacetv.com
http://www.twitter.com/drwright1
focus on core values and streamline efforts digitally, go green to improve your bottom line thinking… use a triple bottom line approach.
I like your ideas. I echoed a couple in my last blog post too! http://www.hallme.com/blog/nine-big-things-in-09/
More than anything – keep it simple. Care about what you do. The gimmicky hokey companies I don’t see making it thru these tougher times. You have to be good at what you do and.. sorry but being a good person will probably help.
I think social networking for your business especially only succeeds if people like you and like what you have to say.
Thanks for a good post!
Amanda
This is a very interesting article, particularly as we come to the end of what has been a very eventful year. It is sad to see so many firms that have experienced difficulty and gone into receivership. A lot of these firms were perfectly good businesses, but decided to get highly leveraged with big loans from banks, and this was their undoing. You are absolutely right to say that firms need to ‘keep it real’, get a better focus and sense of purpose.