by David Branby |
I was talking to my favorite yoga instructor this week about what constitutes healthy business in times like these, and her take on it mirrored my own belief: business is always hard. Not surprisingly, in times like these, business is really hard. So the first rule of healthy business today is to take good care of yourself. That means eating right — because stress releases cortisol in our bodies, which makes us crave carbohydrates and fat. It also means nurturing yourself with adequate exercise and fresh air. It means getting plenty of sleep, so you have the energy to stay optimistic when everything seems to be hammering you. You can also counter some of the “fight or flight” urges that stress and anxiety bring about by doing simple actions that send calming signals to your body: Driving in the slow lane instead of the fast lane. Repeating the mantra that you are not alone; everyone is feeling the pain of this weak economy. Count your blessings, because however pinched you feel, someone else is hurting even more. And caretaking every moment by being mindfully in it, because modern neuro science proves you think more clearly and make better decisions when you are in the moment.
Having said all this, I’ll be the first to admit (and my employees will tell you, in five-part harmony, with feeling), that I am awful at managing stress. But the simple message is, I am trying, and that is my wish for you, too. Drink the chamomile tea, take a walk, say positive affirmations, commit a random act of kindness, do whatever it takes. We will climb out of this recession and we will be stronger because of it.
Speaking of being stronger business-wise, do not forget to market, market, market to let people know you are running your business. Everyone in business is keeping a close watch on spending, but consumers are still buying (they’re just watching their pennies, too) and they still need to know what you’ve got, what it can do for them and where to find it. So, do SEO, paid search and pay-per-click for your web site. Take advantage of historically low printing prices to re-do your brochures and sales collateral. And drive people to your web site, blog and social media sites by advertising. It is still the way brands are built, and a recent study shows that magazines have the highest sales per time-spent ratio in mass media these days. I am a big lover of magazines, for the content and for the ads, and I have a stack that I savor on the weekends with a cup of tea and my cat on my lap. I am inclined to think, and I know from my own experience, that when I am calm and leafing through a magazine, I spend more time really reading over the ads and collecting impressions that inform my buying decisions. Think about your own consumer behavior, calmly and serenely, and apply your intuitive knowledge of human behavior to your marketing behavior for healthy results.
References:
- Stress Eating and the Cortisol Connection, Jane Harrison, R.D., Staff Nutritionist, myOptumHealth, 9/8/08.
- Oprah Magazine, May 2009.
- MPA, Magazines Deliver Most Ad Value per Minute, June 2009.
For more info, contact David Branby, specializing in marketing and affordable green printing, at (775) 323-2444.
