Hello 2020! Not only will the New Year usher us into the next decade, but it also marks a major milestone for the U.S. economy. For the first time in nearly two centuries, our country has gone an entire decade without slumping into a recession. This hasn’t happened since the period just before the Civil War.
Before you put on your party hat and start throwing confetti, take time to revel in that exciting news because (spoiler alert) it isn’t going to stay this way forever. The prosperous years of the 2010s were great while they lasted, but learn this lesson from history:
recessions are inevitable.
It may take us several years or several months to backslide, but sooner or later, this long stretch of prosperity will give way to yet another downturn.
So what does this mean for you? Whether you want to start a business or grow your current one, there are risks and weighty questions involved.
- Should you take the plunge now?
- Or wait until the economy gets even better?
- Will it get better?
- Or will things go sour as soon as you make the leap?
What I see with so many businesses is that they equate growth with paid advertising. Paid ads have their time and place, but they’re only available to you if you have sufficient cash flow. But what if you don’t? And what if your customers don’t either? You’ll see your cost-per-acquisition going through the roof as you try to hunt down cash-strapped customers and convince them to spend their limited budget on a product or service they neither know nor trust.
My advice? Seize the day and start building your business into something that customers can relate to and rely on, and do it in a way that won’t break the bank. You can accomplish this through search engine optimization. A well-built, maintained, and optimized website, after all, is a truly recession-proof medium.
Recession-Proof Marketing
Building your reputation through search engine optimization costs you nothing except a few minutes here and there, but it can do far more to attract sales than pouring money into paid ad campaigns. Get your story out there by blogging regularly. Post pictures. Share your expertise.
Not everyone is willing to put in the time to make search engine optimization work. It requires time and patience—there are no overnight successes. But when business owners walk away from SEO, they’re leaving behind one of their most cost-effective tools for establishing their brand as a trustworthy source—and trust will almost always win the sale.
Skeptical?
Here’s how I know it works. I started SEO National in 2007. I had two things working against me:
- I walked right into the recession of 2008.
- I had limited disposable income to play with.
I put my head down and got to work, built a solid website, optimized it, and used it to reach out to my target audience. I shared my knowledge to benefit my readers. I told them who I was—genuinely—by sharing daily experiences that they could relate to. In short, I showed them I was someone they could trust.
That led to:
- 1,800% growth in 2008,
- 8,500% growth in 2009
- 21,500% into 2010, all while the economy was tanking everywhere else.
You can do the same.
How? Because when the economy is down, trust is at a premium. If customers have a limited amount of money to spend, they want to make sure that they are giving it to someone they can depend on.
If you’re waiting for the perfect time to start a business or grow your current business, my advice to you is to start now. If optimizing your website can catapult your business while the economy is crumbling around you, just imagine what it can do while the economy is setting records.