25 Things You Can Do to Attract Clients and Wealth During a Recession

If you’re an independent consultant or freelance copywriter, the current stock market and economy woes can leave you feeling a bit nervous.

However, after weathering a number of market downturns since the 1980′s — both as an employee of a small company in the Silicon Valley and as a business owner myself — I can assure you that while things can get very scary, i.e. the phone rings less often, they do pass.

Here then are my tips for weathering a downturn — all gleaned from my own hard-earned experience.

1. Don’t lower your prices due to panic or worry. My old boss used to say, “We’re not in business to lose money.” Make sure you don’t.

2. Watch expenses but don’t be penny-wise and pound foolish.

3. Set goals for the year and work to ensure you’re on track. Measure your progress monthly and quarterly.

4. Network at least twice a month. As Mac McIntosh told me during the last downturn when I fretted that my networking wasn’t working, “You’re planting seeds, Dianna.” Those seeds have grown into a thriving business.

5. Buy a few books or home study courses and teach yourself something new — then offer that service to your clients.

6. Focus on one marketing tactic and determine how you can make it better (i.e. growing your newsletter list). Again, buy a program or book and incorporate the strategies you learn. (In other words, don’t just read the book and then toss it on your shelf.)

7. Call all the prospects who’ve inquired about your services but haven’t yet become clients and ask if you can send them an article or report you’ve written. Also ask if you can add them to your e-newsletter list if they’re not on there already.

8. Buy a new outfit or two so that you look like a million bucks when you visit new prospects / clients or when you attend networking meetings.

9. Watch your “latte factor,” a term David Bach uses to denote those “few” dollars we spend on coffee every day. (Personally, my “latte factor” is books — I can easily drop over $100 at Borders, so I stay away from that store.)

10. Either start a 401k or continue adding money to the one you have — even if it’s only $25 or $50 a month.

11. Clean out your office from top to bottom. Move the furniture, vacuum out the dust mice, wash the blinds or curtains, cull out old books and sell them on Amazon. Open the windows to let in some fresh air. Then light a candle and think positive thoughts.

12. Learn how to use one of your software programs more effectively. For example, I just upgraded to ACT! 2008 and have made it a priority to use its new “dashboard” feature to help me keep track of leads and proposals.

13. Buy a list and send out a direct mail letter with your newsletter or free e-report as the offer.

14. Start a blog and make a commitment to write three blog posts a week.

15. Send article reprints to your in-house list as a way of keeping in touch.

16. Develop an information product or e-report you can use to build your “thought leadership.”

17. Start a “radio” show via podcasts. Invite industry experts as your guests — in the process of interviewing them, you’ll learn something new, too.

18. Learn how to use Google AdWords and begin a PPC campaign offering one of your e-books or reports.

19. Build a small network of people you can count on to give you support when you feel down or frustrated.

20. Get plenty of exercise.

21. Get plenty of sleep.

22. Take time off — watch a movie, walk the dogs, take a mini-vacation, take an art or literature course.

23. Exude positive energy. Read lots of motivational books, such as 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself by Steve Chandler.

24. If worry and anxiety trouble you, read the book, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie.

25. Develop a mantra and repeat it to yourself every day.