Did you know there's a guy called Bryan Berg from the USA who constructed a free-standing house of cards that measured 7.86m tall?
It's true.
It was completed on 15th October, 2007 as part of the State Fair of Texas, in Dallas, Texas, USA.
What an achievement. Not only did he do something which most people would have considered impossible... but he landed himself in the Guinness Book of World Records, too.
But a word of warning. I wouldn't be following his example and applying it to your business.
Far too many people do that.
They build businesses which... just like a pack of cards... will fall down right around them with the slightest hint of a breeze.
How do they do this?
They rely on one or a handful of customers for the vast majority of their business. That customer leaves and their house falls down.
They rely on one method of generating leads. A telephone directory they have used for years. Google Adwords. Telemarketing. Truth is, it doesn't matter what it is... it can all come crumbling down around you if you're faced with a change in telemarketing laws, a Google slap, or a change in market conditions making one mode of advertising less efficient. One gust of wind and their house falls down.
They get lazy in the good times. They generate leads and don't have a proper multi-step follow up sequence, so tens... even hundreds of thousands of dollars slip through their fingers every year.
They don't train the people who answer their incoming calls to close the sale over the phone. More money goes missing.
They don't follow up their existing customers, who end up going elsewhere. The truth is most customers leave because they don't feel cared about, not because of a bad product or service. More money down the drain.
They don't test and measure their advertising, which means their ads may be doing just 20%, 30% or 50% of their true potential.
It's starting to add up isn't it?
And that's why you should look at the recession that's staring us in the face as a GOOD THING. That's right. Because it forces you to tidy up your game... look at your weaknesses... plug up the leaks so and catch the hidden profits which have been sliding past your nose for years.
If you're truly serious about changing the way you look at today's economy and making more money in the recession than you did in the boom, there's two things you'll want to do:
1. Make the decision to test, measure and fix any advertising you are doing now.
2. Make the decision to have not just one... not two... but at least six different methods of getting new customers for your business.
And while you're at it, print this quote out from Walt Disney and stick it on your wall:
"You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you"
