Merry Christmas. Whatever your celebration at this time of year may be — may each of you enjoy a warm and restful holiday break. I most certainly intend to!
2009 has been one of those “Best of Times, Worst of Times” years.
In what ways was it “Best?”
- My consulting business not only survived, but thrived. I added several new accounts, including Acquia, GolfTripGenius, and Rosen Law Offices.
- My most significant piece of marketing advisory business, RSD, remains a strong account for me.
- I added Presence Engineering, or interactive website design and delivery to our offerings, launching several small business sites including Olde Thyme Home, Dana Landscaping, and Todd Michel Construction.
- I added photography services, bridging my lifelong hobby with my business, via my ‘affiliate’ Synopshots.
In what ways was it worst?
- Many friends and former colleagues experienced varying degrees or financial or professional hardship.
- The markets are seeing signs of recovery, but somehow no one believes we are in a dynamic recovery just yet.
- Our domestic political atmosphere is as partisan and replete with hypocrisy as I have ever observed.
So looking forward to 2010, here’s a few things I foresee:
- Glacially, buyers will be authorized and funded to invest… and well-positioned businesses will begin winning and growing once again.
- The businesses that are in position to win have the following characteristics:
- Rather than reinventing themselves under the stress of the last 18 months of economic uncertainty, they further refined and in many cases narrowed their “addressable market” scope. Did you?
- They pulled back, perhaps both in overall spend and in staff levels, but are poised to reinvest in calendar Q1 as the number of indicators of recovery, however soft, begin to build. Are you?
- They have built strategic reinvestment strategies and tactical plans, which are not radical in their love embrace of social media, but aware of the need to earn a loyal prospect / buyer community. Is yours?
- Small and growing businesses (most of the companies I work with) will clearly see that in the online world, they can stretch their brand to have every bit of the presence, authority, and reputation that far larger businesses possess. And because they can act with more agility, they can disrupt those larger competitors with decisive strikes and aggressive tactical actions. In other words — it’s going to get fun again!
And that’s what I miss most… the fun. Let’s raise a virtual glass to seeing the fun return to our business lives in 2010!
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