All the talk of marketing and advertising has me wondering?
Do you put any money towards ads and marketing now even though everyone keeps saying its going to get worse instead of better or do you keep that money for your own food and then advertise once it starts to get better?
Now I realize that most would say advertise no matter what as you need the exposure all the time but would holding back so you can still pay all your fixed costs like insurance and licensure and stay afloat for the long term be better than dropping it for ads now and not being able to be around in a few years if things don’t pick up?
I really don’t know….Maybe its based on what you do? i.e. large or small jobs?
Replies
I withheld my usual fall postcard mailing. Nobody is starting anything, everybody is waiting. My theory is that we won't see any improvement until the new prez gets in and starts working his program. In the spring people will start to think about what they've put off. For me, right now, it seemed like $1000 down the drain.
Co I work for has kept it up.
We may be sinking, but much slower than some. If we can maintain the ads, we will be the first company contacted when $ come out of the pockets.
At least that is what we are hoping.
present circumstances... keep 6 months cash to cover your a$$ in the case of Great Dep 2.
The second things start to turn around... start putting money into marketing. (When the auto business issues and banking issues are resolved--when they start lending money again)
Right now, do all the things you know you should do but haven't bothered to do because you were too busy. That said... if you can afford to market consistantly throughout this down time... it is a good time to make a name... get top of mind presence when things turn around. If you can gain talent... that will certainly make you shine later.
L
GardenStructure.com~Build for the Art of it! Decks Blog
That 6-month figure sounds low to me. Lots of signs of a deep and prolonged recession at this point, plus things like *gasp* a new frugality on the part of the American consumer. The savings rate is actually projected to rise to 4-5%, from zero.
6 months gains you leeway.
Say, work is sporadic for 2 years... 6 months all expenses is more than adequate. We are all resourceful people--we can scrape up work here and there. How cheap can we live... something we hopefully won't have to discover.
Was talking to a guy that was with us a while back... didn't tell me he was on the verge of bankruptcy and owed a couple hundred grand when he joined. Had good credit and lots of references.
9 months into his bankruptcy he's telling me that he can't live on less than 90k after taxes a year.
Wow.
How exactly do you go through bankruptcy and not learn anything? He'd need 1.5 years of expenses in my estimation.
I don't believe deep or prolonged... too much money waiting to jump back in. I think we come out stronger than before--but hey, I've been wrong before.
LGardenStructure.com~Build for the Art of it! Decks Blog