"Show Me The Money" 12 / 24 Marketing Plan Part 3

Biggest Opportunity To Grow Your Business In Your Lifetime

As you can see from my previous Marketing Prescription Newsletter posts, we are most definitely headed for a recession or possibly worse a full-fledged depression. If you haven't read the earlier installments, look in the right column of this blog. You can find the link to read the first two installments.

You have a 12 - 24 month window to prepare and put your business in a position to thrive and grow during the extended recession that could last 3-5 years . . . or more if congress succeeds in getting their grubby hands on it.

Now that we've resigned ourselves to the coming recession or worse, we can start preparing our business. We should immediately refine and target our marketing to those in the economy who will still have money to spend.

Affluent households and affluent and emerging industry businesses in the United States are the smart target markets for us going into 2010 and on. If you aren't already targeting this prospect market, you should start moving your company or sales territory that direction as fast as you can possibly move.

I'm going to invest the next couple of posts defining this group and explaining how to market to them and how to connect your business to the households and businesses that will still be spending money.

First, lets lay down some definitions for you to put your arms around and understand where we're going. Let's start out with the consumer market. By the way, this also applies to businesses because the people who make the buying decisions in businesses are also affluent consumers.

I will primarily discuss three groups, Ultra-Affluent, Affluent, Mass Affluent. Later I will use the term affluent to refer to all three groups unless I specifically designate one of the groups individually.

There are also Specialty groups within the affluent such as Affluent Boomers, Mass Affluent Boomers, Affluent Entrepreneurs & Business Owners. The reference for the following definitions come from Dan Kennedy's new book, "No BS Marketing To The Affluent."

First the Mass-Affluent group has a household Income range between $85,000 - $150,000 and/or net worth above $250,000 not including their primary residence. They are generally younger and more diverse than previous affluent populations in history. They shop at WalMart as well as upscale stores like Saks 5th Avenue and Neiman Marcus.

The next group up the ladder is the Affluent group with household incomes $150K - $250K and net worth above $1 Million not including primary residence.

Then there is the Ultra-Affluent group with annual incomes in excess of $250,000, Net worth $3-$10 Million.

Believe it or not, those that have a net worth of $1 Million or more represent 10% of all U.S. households - 11 Million, and hold 36% of all income, 70% of all net worth, and 89% of value of all publicly traded stocks and mutual funds in U.S.

Being a millionaire isn't quite the exclusive club it used to be 30 years ago.

There is also an Ultra-Ultra-Affluent group: Incomes above $1 Million, Net worth starting at $10 million. If you can find a product or service to successfully market to this group, you will be joining this exclusive club very quickly.

In my next newsletter post, I'll review some of the keys to marketing to the whole affluent population. And, how to set up your business to prosper during a down economy.

If you would like to learn more about marketing strategies that will carry your business through this new economy, then you need to be studying the guy I study, Dan Kennedy. He's the top small business marketing consultant and thinker in the country. If you aren't a member,

click here and go to this website and register for your 2 months of free newsletters and a whole lot more. Then start implementing what Dan teaches. It will be the best action step you've ever taken for your business. It was for mine.

Then to study more on the Affluent Marketplace, Dan has an add-on newsletter dedicated to strategies for marketing your products and services to this lucrative market. It's his "NoBS Marketing To The Affluent Letter." You have to be a member of his regular marketing letter to subscribe.

Email me at info@MarketingStrategiesRx.com and I'll send you a special invitation with a free report and one free month to test it out.

Show Me The Money - 12/24 Marketing Plan - Part 2

As I posted last week (December 12), there's a perfect storm coming in our economy. What I'm discussing here is not a DOOM AND GLOOM report. It is a reality, that when we prepare and take action, gives us as business owner marketers a significant opportunity to create new wealth. Understanding is the first step to opportunity. Action is the one that "Shows Me The Money."

One key premise I manage my life and business by is this: Things are never as good .... or bad as the Media makes it out to be. I probably ought to make that into a banner to display at our meetings.

The media is about creating extremes. Extremes sell stories. So you can almost always discount what you hear. Or, better yet, stop listening. Turn it off. You and I don't make decisions in extremes.

The history of the US economy goes through approximately 40-year low-to-peak cycles. At the end of a 40-year cycle our economy drops off significantly. These cycles are usually created by population growth and generational cycles. The start of this last cycle was 1969-1970, just about 40 years ago (as the baby boom generation started entering adulthood).

We also have (approximately) 30-year low to peak Commodity Cycles. The most prominent one we see today is energy prices and the recent peaking technology cycle of computers. Both of these have peaked or are peaking in the next two years. Almost all of life is driven by cycles. These are just two that affect the economy.

Both the 40 year and the 30 year cycles are peaking right now or over the next 12 to 24 months. This hasn't happened in over 100 years. A perfect economic storm is coming.

I don't believe we are quite there yet like the media is saying. I think we are going to get another small run up in the economy in 2009 and another possibly big run up in the oil commodity prices.

After that, the bottom is probably going to drop out of our economy. But, there is great hope for business owners with a marketing mindset like yours and mine. My clients are growing their businesses even when everyone else says the economy is terrible. Why is that? Outside the Box Direct Response Marketing.

Even in a down economy there will still be areas of the economy that are growing. All we have to do is identify where that is and target our business to those parts of the economy. Sounds simple right? But maybe not. YOU have about 12 to 24 months to work long hours and work creatively to put your business in a position to not just survive a downturn but to prosper during a recession.

If we experience a recession during the next 2-3 years, where are we going to find customers/clients that will still be spending money? Did you know that during the 1930's recession we got a whole new generation of wealth created during one of the most difficult times in our history? These were people that identified where there was still going to be a market spending their money, where there would be people still having desires and wants. The Auto industry boomed out of the depression years. The movie industry boomed in the 30's. The oil industry started taking off and did very well during the depression years.

Places like California and Texas weren't affected nearly as much as the rest of the nation because of these new industries, movies and oil. Factories in Michigan and what is now called the rust belt were building and expanding for the auto industry.

People had to buy cars because they needed to trek across the country to find work. They had to move to the city and drive to work because public transportation couldn't keep up with demand.

My dad moved to Houston, Texas during the depression because there were jobs in Houston supporting the build-up in the oil industry.

We have about 1-3 years to prepare our businesses for what's coming. That means we have to work very smart and very fast over this next year if we want our businesses to survive.

So who is affected the least in a down economy? Affluent households and businesses that are in, cater to, and supply key growing industries. People that have disposable incomes and are not on the edge of bankruptcy when things go south.

People in lower income brackets will not be able to weather the storm because they have no cushion. We have to reorient our businesses away from the masses to target people with higher incomes. We need to understand what they want and need.

If we market B2B, the people we will be selling is the business executive, the business owner who will make decisions and react the same way the affluent do because they are the affluent. We will also want to niche market to key industries that will be starting a new technology and commodity cycle for the next 30 years.

In my next post I'll discuss the outstanding opportunities offered by affluent households and affluent new-growth businesses.

Recession and The 12/24 Marketing Plan-Part 1

Our 12 - 24 Month Marketing Window
To Make Your Business Bullet Proof and
Create Your Own ATM Cash Machine

Those of you who were at our monthly No BS Marketing PowerCircle last Tuesday will remember that I gave a presentation on the coming economic challenges, what to expect, and secret strategies to grow your business in challenging economy.

I made this challenge to the group: "You've got about 12 - 24 months." That's all the time you have to turn your business into the bright shinning castle on the hill rather than the scrambling beggar on the corner of a downwardly correcting economy.

Because of time constraints, I wasn't able to give the complete presentation. So I am taking the next couple of weeks on my BLOG to present an economic reality check and significant growth strategy. Every couple of days I'll post another continuation of the article on this BLOG.

If you'd like to keep up and read the entire research and strategy, in the right column there's a "Subscribe Now" section. From here, you can create a link to any of the following: iGoogle page, MyYahoo page or MyAOL page on your web browser that will tell you when each new article is posted.

If you don't have an iGoogle, MyYahoo or MyAOL on your web browser, click one of the choices in the "Subscribe Now" section and it will create one for you. I use iGoogle, mainly because I also use the Google browser tool bar.

I also have an article here on my BLOG explaining what these browser windows are and why you might use one. http://www.directmarketingstrategiesrx.com/2008/12/subscribing-to-blog.html

Preparation trumps skill in most all cases and especially right now. I want you to be prepared, so I'll explain what's happening and go over the key strategies to make your business the shining light of optimism and success in your industry even in troubling economic times.

Okay, let's start.
Many in the press, capital hill, wall street, economists are predicting an immediate recession. What do you think?

I read a lot of information from economists and so called experts. One of the people that I have found to be the most thorough and most accurate is Howard S. Dent. He has had uncanny success at predicting economic trends over the last 30 years. He's the author of "The Next Great Bubble Boom: How to Profit from the Greatest Boom in History: 2006-2010" and a new book coming out in January: "The Great Depression Ahead: How to Prosper in the Crash Following the Greatest Boom in History."

I would definitely recommend reading these.

His writing and predictions hit home with me because I've lived through 4 minor and major recessions in my life. Here's what he's researched and I believe. Our economy goes through 39-40 year peak cycles, 1929, 1968, and now somewhere in 2008 - 2009. These are driven mostly by generational (population) peaks in spending. The Baby boomer spending peak is coming to an end over the next one to two years.

Commodity Cycles - 29-30 Years Long
Commodity cycles/technology cycles and now Oil price cycles peak every 29 - 30 years. 1920, 1951, 1980 and now many expect oil commodity prices to peak in late 2009 - 2010. These are also driven by demographic changes. The one affecting this cycle is the massive baby boom population moving through the economy. That amounts to 1/3rd of the population yet only takes up 18 years of the normal 79 year life span. The baby boom population is at the end of its peak spending years.

Their spending for durable goods which drives economy booms is tailing off drastically. They aren't buying as many cars, refrigerators, washing machines, bread makers and toasters, any more, because they've got what they need already.

The government is going to step in and try to apply financial stimulus but it's probably going to have an effect much like what happened in the early 1980s when we had a similar down turn. In 1980-81, the government stepped in and applied financial stimulus to the economy. Things got better for a couple of years then we lapsed into a significantly deeper down turn in 1983. At about the same time oil prices went in the tank. They plummeted to $5 a barrel. Of course that's unheard of now.

Personal Story of Experiencing Cycle Caused Recession
We experienced this deep recession personally. Linda bought a house for her and her kids (Aaron and Stephanie) in Houston, TX, in 1983 the year before we got married. She thought the government stimulus was really going to work. It was a nice little 1,500 sq. ft., 3 bedroom 2 bath house. She paid $69,000 for the house but the best mortgage interest rate available was 11 1/2%, and . . . she had a great credit rating. Can you imagine paying 11.5% for a mortgage.

Two years later the house appraised for $43,000 after the oil industry drop and the government intervention in the economy dropped house values significantly. The economy in Houston was almost totally dependent on the oil industry. Over half of our oil equipment manufacturing plants closed. Our Texas bank holding companies started losing money and were eventually bought out by large east coast bank conglomerates.

PC Computer Technology Cycle Peaking
In the early 1980s, as one technology cycle peaked, we had a new technology cycle start-up in the personal computer industry. But with the 30 year cycle, it has now reached it's peak and demand for computers and the introduction of new better technologies is peaking and starting to slow down. The Oil commodities are about to do the same thing again.

Are you beginning to see that this is a historical cycle that by definition just keeps happening?

The United States now has two key cycles that are peaking around the same time. That hasn't happened in a long time. You can expect this to cause a deeper drop in our economy than the normal recessionary period. But there is great hope for people who are studying and implementing marketing and advertising strategies with us.

I'll post Part 2 of this multi-part series early next week:
"So Where Are We Going To Find Clients/Customers/Patients"

Subscribing to a BLOG

How To Subscirbe on Your Computer to a BLOG

Many businesses and people are now creating BLOGs. If you aren't familiar, a BLOG is nothing more than an information website that someone posts articles they write or information about key issues in their industry. Or they are sometimes personal BLOGs just posting info about what's going on in their life.

Jeremy and Jenny, our son and daughter-in-law just moved to Manhattan, New York City with our 5 grandboys (oldest 9). As you can imagine they create quite a site walking down the street. We always had a hard time keeping up with what they were doing and pictures of the boys. She now has a BLOG page that I subscribe to in iGoogle that tells me when she posts a new article and photos of the boys. That's how you would use it for the personal world.

So, when you subscribe to a BLOG you have a reminder when something new has been posted and you can choose or not choose to go check out the new information.

When your web browser opens it is usually programmed to go to a website immediately or to go to another start page. Google, Yahoo and AOL have created these wonderful start pages for you to collect what are called "gadgets' of information that you can review quickly in one place. You can see your facebook info, Blogs you are following, the weather, stock market, lowest gasoline prices around town and all kinds of other gadgets summarized on one screen.

On the right column of this page are some icons for: iGoogle, MyYahoo and MyAOL. Depending on which one you are using, if you click on one of them it will immediately link this blog as a gadget on your web browser start screen. That way you will know when I post a new article. You can immediately go check it out or wait till another time that you open your browser.

I use iGoogle, for several reasons. One I am tracking a lot of what is going on at Google because they are responsible for 64% of all of the searches on the Internet. I want to know what's going on that affects my websites. We also believe they apply some additional value in the search engine rankings to what is posted on your iGoogle start page. So of course I have a link to my BLOG on my iGoogle page.

If you aren't already using one, click on the iGoogle icon at the right, and it will automatically set up your iGoogle start page for you. You can choose some options as you start it up and you can go back later and add gadgets from the "Add Stuff" link at the top of the page. I have several Blogs I track, FoxNews.com, Wall Street Journal, weather, GasBuddy that tells me where the cheapest prices are, weather, and stock market reports on mine.

If you currently have a MyYahoo or MyAOL start page on your browser you can click the related icons for those and it will post it on your browser window.

It's just that easy. If something goes wrong or you have trouble, post a comment below or email me at wayne@MarketingStrategiesRx.com