Yes, it really is August.
August is the land of 90 degrees – from both a weather and a business perspective.
On the weather front (yea, I did that) – we’ve had a tough summer, and to bask in weekends of hot beachy weather and BBQ’s has the average consumer – though still tentative spenders – enjoying the backyard, the local beach, and friends and more friends. It feels like a good time to rest, and we’re having fun with the whole less is more. August is our vacation from the agony that has been 2009. We all know the market is showing signs of life – the economists are all predicating that the bottom has been found, we wallowed in it for a month or two, and now we’re just putting our feet up, flipping the burgers, and getting ready to bring home a little (a lot!) less stress.
That said, it is relegated, for the most part, to the near perfect weekends of late. Monday through Friday, we’re planning, strategizing, and ok…taking brief moments to look out the window - wishing we could take the whole damn month off to reset ourselves, instead of the all American average week. We’ve got work to do though, and using these next couple of weeks to plan out the flow of that work is something we all need to do.
The economy may not turn 90 degrees this year, but it will head in that direction before we see the end of 09. To capitalize on that trend, set your sites and your goals to capture market share, visibility, and watch your options materialize.
Tips:
1. LinkedIn is your online portfolio – treat it as such. Post your best presentations, make sure your information is clean, neat, and accurate. Your photo should be professional, your status updates geared toward your business flow. If you have a professional blog – link it to your profile. LinkedIn is your professional foot in the door – have a few references completed, and do the same for people you regard in your industry as the best in the business.
2. Privacy settings: Is your Facebook personal? Make it Private. Are your Tweets more about the latest episode of True Blood than relative industry news/feedback/insights? Private. Attend a wee hour’s party and a friend posted photos on their blog? Yea, no one looks pretty at 4am on too many Cosmos – get those photos taken down…You are searchable people – keep your private life private. What you wouldn’t tell your Grandmother, you shouldn’t have on the web.
3. Pick a goal for each month for the rest of the year. One thing you want to accomplish each month. Tape that bad boy to your monitor – or maybe “there’s an app for that” on your phone. That goal is yours - So write it down, yes, now is a good time. Go!
4. I keep a close eye on sites like www.cnnmoney.com – and – www.theeconomist.com to stay up on my “what is going on out there” – I steer clear of T.V. – the sensationalism just kills me. The point is to stay educated, not terrified.
5. And of course – the “quote” factor…when I’m getting my (beep) handed to me, and I really am feeling that strong desire to move to VT and run a Maple Sugar Farm…I read my favorite quote: “Many men fail because they quit too soon. They lose faith when the signs are against them. They do not have the courage to hold on, to keep fighting in spite of that which seems insurmountable. If more of us would strike out and attempt the "impossible," we very soon would find the truth of that old saying that nothing is impossible...abolish fear and you can accomplish anything you wish.” - Dr. C. E. Welch (founder, Welch's Grape Juice)
Divide and conquer – educate and own – live and learn – love and laugh. Ya got one life peeps – go git it.
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