place - social.dankennedy... - Dan Kennedy

(Q&A Continued From Page 15)relevant to them, you and they must connect in waysthat transcend the core business. Hopefully, by the way,you have a ‘reason why’ story for being on your missionto help teachers – Mom’s a teacher, a teacher turnedyour life around, etc. This is not to say that what’s-init-for-thembenefits, scaring them about money mistakesand a future fraught with peril, a feckless union,a pension system on thin ice, and direct-response offersaren’t important. They are. But, this is a developmentalsale requiring them to decide you are THE guy theywant working for them. You are young – that makes itall the more critical to surround yourself with the trappingsof authority. You asked about books. I am sendingyou as gift, a copy of the CREATING TRUST book I coauthoredwith top financial advisor Matt Zagula. I urgereading: TO BE OR NOT TO BE INTIMIDATED/RobertRinger as other starting point.I get asked “economy questions” a lot – and since most economistsare about as good at predictions as TV weathermen, I feelperfectly justified in sharing my opinions. Here’s one:This can be a good time for bold bargain-hunters. OnAugust 5th, after a 512 point Dow drop the day before,smaller drop the day before that, and another 80 pointsor so drop by noon on the 6th, I took about $100,000.00of cash on vacation in my brokerage account and boughtmore stock in two companies I already own stock in –Disney, at a $5/appx.15% discount from the per sharevalue I have it calculated at, factoring in highs of pastcouple years only (not potential), and Tupperware ata $12/almost 20% discount. I almost bought back intoHerbalife too, but there was only a 12% discount thereand I view Tupperware as a more stable play, althoughboth are very much international plays and had I beenspreading $500,000.00 instead of $100,000.00 around, I’dhave taken some. Now, I’m not touting stocks here, norsuggesting I’m some sort of expert; I may be buying onthe way down and need a lot of patience – we’ll see.When I stick to a Buffett-like philosophical approach, i.e.investing in good, well-managed companies that makeand/or sell a variety of things ordinary folks regularlybuy and have little speculative or leveraged activitiesdriving their numbers, and buy at big discounts, andexit in part or whole once past a pre-determined target,I have done just fine. But again, stock picking is not mysubject here. I use it only as illustration of principle:these are good times for bold bargain-hunters. I mighthave used real estate as similar example. But instead,let’s use it as jumping off point for bold bargain-huntingfor your business. So - What’s on sale?Media. Ad rates for print media particularly are at alltime lows, almost anything can be negotiated, and lockingin today’s rate for multiple insertions over coming2 – 3 years with partial prepayment can be great investment.A lot of media has less ad clutter too, so your adspace is worth more but costs less. Above par talent.Whether hiring and adding employees or using outside,®Page 17freelance providers, now is a very good time to acquirea higher caliber, more experienced employee than youcould afford pre-2008 and to put higher caliber freelancersto work developing product, building web sites andother media, writing copy, consulting, whatever to workat bargain rates. Even I am a bargain at the moment. Ihaven’t raised my day rate for consulting or speaking infive years, and ordinarily it would have been bumpedup by at least 25% over that period of time. I am doingroughly 25% more work for my fee as a copywriter thanI would have done in 2007 – the minimum ante’s thesame, but the amount of work-product provided, more.My private client group yearly fee in 2011 and for 2012:less than in 2007 and 2008. In my case, I could simplyjust do less, and I am doing that too, but I happen to stilllike to work. Across the board, writers, photographers,video producers, web developers, consultants, coaches,speakers, you-name-its are competing for a shrunkenand shrinking pool of clients able and willing to usethem. That is an organic price/fee suppressor you cantake advantage to get things done you need now or toprepare for the most aggressive attack on a good economythe moment the worm turns, either at big discountson the caliber of service you would ordinarily invest inor by stepping up a rung or two or three but only payingwhat you would customarily pay. Sales professionals.You can recruit up. Get people to work only for commissionswho would never have done so 3 years ago. Gettop-flight salespeople to work as tele-marketers. Raidcollapsed industries like real estate. Other companies.Great time to acquire. At small biz level, be alert for opportunitiesto buy a business with its own money, oneway or the other. One of our Members in the retail printingfield was approached by a printer in his area whohad decided to retire 5 years earlier than intended dueto the economy; he sold his receivables, clientele and 4months of field work moving accounts over for a percentageof the revenue over 7 years, subject to a pre-determinedcash buy-out at buyer’s option. He disposedof his equipment separately. The buyer shelled out zip.Neglected or orphaned customers or clients. I’ve honestlynever seen anything like it: businesses sufferingbut simultaneously cutting back on communication andcoddling of current customers, refusing to invest in retentionor rescue, not pursuing inactive customers at all.This, while customers are less willing to casually spendand more sensitive to being taken for granted. Thisleaves a whole lot of restless, seducible customers wanderingaround. Now is a good time to invest more (notless), more aggressively (not more conservatively) in acquiringcustomers with predictable, good lifetime value.Assume, for example, that you normally buy a customerworth $1,000.00 over 5 years for $200.00. Let’s go buymore right now at $400.00 each – what does that looklike? If we took the extra $200.00 each and bought 1,000,that’s $200,000.00. If we give it one half the $1,000.00value, $500.00 over 5 years that equals a 250% return in5 years; averaged 50% return per year. Where else areyou going to get that? And it might not take that to bepredatory and aggressive, if you can focus on others’ neglectedcustomers. nThe PLACE For PROSPERITY