There's a recession on - Spend More!

Don't worry, I haven't lost the plot just yet, although many of you would argue that that happened a long time ago. In the last week I have found myself inspired; not only by the merchandise that I have been seeing, but by how this credit crunch (why is it called a crunch, it feels more like a stomp. I mean some crunchy things are actually quite pleasant - Cadbury's Crunchie, Crunchy Nut Cornflakes.....mmmmmmm....Cornflakes...you know I really need to start eating breakfast before I leave the house, sorry, where was I?) how this credit crunch affords us all the opportunity to really focus on our marketing.

The most important thing to realise here is that it's not about the product itself - it's how you use it that counts. As much as I hate pens, sometimes they can be the perfect marketing tool. Put them in a big bowl at a trade show and they do nothing, but give a nicer pen as a gift to a buyer whose about to sign your contract, and they're gold.

So what is the point in spending more? Well there's a little more to it than that. What I'm talking about is spending more per item, but in total you may actually spend less. I've spoken often about untargetted marketing - giving out trinkets because it seems like the right thing to do. STOP RIGHT THERE - STEP AWAY FROM THE CATALOGUE AND COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD.

If your competitors are all looking in the same catalogues, coming up with the same "ideas" and cutting their budgets to the same level, do you really think your 30 pence pen is going to bring in that new client. Really? DO YOU?

How much more powerful would it be to thank someone for the time they took to meet you by giving them a really special gift? Let them leave with a warm fuzzy feeling that a mere logobug cannot provide. Will they definitely do business with you? Possibly. Will they remember you and speak about you to colleagues and associates? Absolutely. "Hey Jim, like your new desk clock, where'd you get it?......" and away we go.

There are statistics and formulae (oh yes, I can use proper plurals when I have to, I don't have to dumb this down for you people do I? OK, some of you maybe..) that I could share with you that can show you how to not only save money but also improve upon measurable results. Of course I am not going to do it here. If you want to learn how it all works, you're going to need to arrange a meeting.

The idea of speculating to accumulate is not new, and in times of economic downturn, we just let that idea go. Now the title of this blog invites you to spend more. I'm actually going to help you to make more too, so you really only have one question to ask of yourselves -

How much are you willing to pay for a queue of new customers? Now double it - we've got some planning to do.