Why all successful business owners are "psychic"
Can you predict the future in your business? If not, it'd be a good thing to start doing. Here's why: people who are successful long term in business quickly develop a knack for smelling both trouble and opportunity before either happens.
That lets them head off trouble, and be well positioned to take advantage of opportunity when it occurs.
Let me give you an example. A few years ago, broadcast fax was all the rage. It was a neat, cheap little media that produced quality leads and good customers, dang near instantly. In fact, some not-so-forward thinking business owners built entire businesses based on broadcast fax. We used to do quite a bit of it ourselves.
One of the most forward thinking guys on the planet is Dan Kennedy. While Dan loved broadcast fax, he quickly recognized that "junk faxes" would soon become a legal issue, and recommended people started to move away from it. This was two years BEFORE problems actually happened.
As you're probably aware, broadcast fax is, essentially illegal in the US now (yes, you can fax to your customers, and I think non-profits--and politicians--can fax, but it's not a media you want to be in now unless you're very sophisticated), and you can get in a lot of trouble very quickly if you fax.
We quickly got out of the faxing business, and there was no effect whatsoever on us when broadcast fax heaved its dying breath. But many, many businesses died along with it because they failed to anticipate--and plan for--the coming problems.
The same thing has happened in email, TV, and a host of other media--rapid change that has caught many businesses unawares.
The flip side of this is, there is also a lot of money to be made by anticipating. A good example of this is banner advertising.
When the internet hullabaloo was at its frantic height, banner advertising rates went through the roof. Also, banners spread so rapidly, and were done so poorly that they lost much of their effectiveness.
After the internet bubble burst, hordes of ex-dot comers pooh-poohed banner ads, saying they were worthless and couldn't work... which is what us direct marketers were waiting for. Banner rates dropped like a rock, mainstream advertisers avoided them like the plague, and the direct marketers quietly started buying banners again, insisting on paying rates that would allow them to continue to use the media. Many have quietly gotten very rich using banners, and I've made a lot of money myself using them. We were able to do this because we anticipated opportunity.
So, the lesson here really is one most people don't want to hear:
prevent disaster and prepare for opportunity by planning ahead.
But if you do this, you can't help but prosper.
Let's get to it...
Mr. X.
Group M Marketing
Kimble and Kennedy Publishing
That lets them head off trouble, and be well positioned to take advantage of opportunity when it occurs.
Let me give you an example. A few years ago, broadcast fax was all the rage. It was a neat, cheap little media that produced quality leads and good customers, dang near instantly. In fact, some not-so-forward thinking business owners built entire businesses based on broadcast fax. We used to do quite a bit of it ourselves.
One of the most forward thinking guys on the planet is Dan Kennedy. While Dan loved broadcast fax, he quickly recognized that "junk faxes" would soon become a legal issue, and recommended people started to move away from it. This was two years BEFORE problems actually happened.
As you're probably aware, broadcast fax is, essentially illegal in the US now (yes, you can fax to your customers, and I think non-profits--and politicians--can fax, but it's not a media you want to be in now unless you're very sophisticated), and you can get in a lot of trouble very quickly if you fax.
We quickly got out of the faxing business, and there was no effect whatsoever on us when broadcast fax heaved its dying breath. But many, many businesses died along with it because they failed to anticipate--and plan for--the coming problems.
The same thing has happened in email, TV, and a host of other media--rapid change that has caught many businesses unawares.
The flip side of this is, there is also a lot of money to be made by anticipating. A good example of this is banner advertising.
When the internet hullabaloo was at its frantic height, banner advertising rates went through the roof. Also, banners spread so rapidly, and were done so poorly that they lost much of their effectiveness.
After the internet bubble burst, hordes of ex-dot comers pooh-poohed banner ads, saying they were worthless and couldn't work... which is what us direct marketers were waiting for. Banner rates dropped like a rock, mainstream advertisers avoided them like the plague, and the direct marketers quietly started buying banners again, insisting on paying rates that would allow them to continue to use the media. Many have quietly gotten very rich using banners, and I've made a lot of money myself using them. We were able to do this because we anticipated opportunity.
So, the lesson here really is one most people don't want to hear:
prevent disaster and prepare for opportunity by planning ahead.
But if you do this, you can't help but prosper.
Let's get to it...
Mr. X.
Group M Marketing
Kimble and Kennedy Publishing
