Paradigm Shift Setting You Adrift?

At the risk of being labeled the resident curmudgeon, I plan to go against trend in this Biznik article and do my best to define the big elephant in the room. I will have no sage advice to impart, no prepackaged motivational business speak, merely observations that might elicit some pro-action from the community at large, just to see if anyone’s paying attention. After the euphoria of a new president wears out its welcome, we will all be stuck with the same intractable fact: How to sustain any kind of business in an economic climate where nobody’s buying anything, or investing in a future. I don’t need to remind too many people about the fact that this last Christmas, we as a nation experienced the worst sales decline in history. On inauguration day, the stock market decided to ignore the love fest and took yet another nose dive. Even the recession proof porn industry’s profits dropped 22%, inspiring Larry Flynt to appeal to congress for relief. I’ll be frank with you, this last year was no picnic for me either, and I’m sure not alone in that assessment. In a time where companies are loathed to spend any real dollars on anything, most middle manager bean counters think it’s a great idea to cut “frivolous” spending, such as marketing. So now the big question on the minds of most small to mid level companies is “how do I promote my product or service by spending no money whatsoever?” My answer to that question is, prepare to stand in that long line to file chapter 11, because you won’t survive this or any other year. In the 15 years prior to this second Great Depression, I worked for all of the major studios here in LA as a designer and animator for successful franchises like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In that time, I had a ringside seat to see many of these companies that had been around for twenty five years or more, fold because of poor mid-management decisions, and that was before this very recent downturn, at a time when we were all supposedly still riding high. Filmation, Calico, Ruby Spears and even the legendary Hanna Barbera are history because of a refusal to modify their approach to the ever changing technological developments in entertainment. All of those companies were in the multiples of tens of millions of dollars, so my question to you is, if these guys with their deep pockets can’t figure out how to stay afloat in a good economy, how will you do it now? I mean, let’s face it, all those clever guerilla marketing techniques might work up to a point, but after a while you’re actually going to have to spend a dollar or two to get visible. I don’t think Google cares if you can afford to be on their search crawlers or not. The company I’m currently working for is poised to take advantage of many features that most small companies can only dream about, and when I say small, I mean around ten million dollars. The sad fact is, they won’t. The product they sell is a tested and certified proprietary green technology, they’ve been in business for twenty years, so they were ahead of the environmental curve, it’s American made and they even have a celebrity spokesperson. Hell, they even sponsored floats for the Rose Parade in years past, yet just this last week they failed to meet payroll for the first time in that twenty year period. In effect, I see them following the same misguided playbook that the studios I just mentioned attempted during their demise. They’re giving in to their fear and making irrational decisions, cutting their nose off to spite their face. There is no coherent marketing strategy, instead they’re pummeling their sales people to come up with ideas to market their high end product at swap meets and other free, low brow venues, then blaming the sales staff for the inevitable sales declines. They actually blew their meager promotional budget on door knob hangers because, get this: The owner of the company used to sell encyclopedias door to door and he thinks this whole internet thing is “fickle“(!) As a result, there is nothing I can do to help this company move forward, so I’m reduced to watching yet another spectacular crash and burn, albeit miniscule compared to a major studio. Another business owner contacted me through Biznik because he thought that virtual marketing might help his printing business. That’s like buying a car so you can drive door to door to sell buggy whips. When your business is already in the throes of its death rattle, it’s probably not the ideal time to stage a new marketing strategy. These times will continue to cut the weak from the herd, and the weak are distinguished by the fear in their eyes. Probably the bravest thing any company or individual can do right now is to realize there’s advantages to a down economy, a chance to move ahead while the rest are paralyzed in fear. Entrepreneurs are financial risk takers, not commiserators. Maybe there’s even one visiting this site from time to time. If so, I’d sure like to meet you. In the meantime, let’s just all sit here cutting bait and staring at each other, waiting for someone to make a move. 2009-01-21T21:03:22Z