Moving with the Punches

Lots of change in the markets. Up, down and every which away. Jobs rising mostly, falling in some markets. Same with salaries and wages – up and down and inside out depending on the market under study.

Products are new and improved while old ones are discontinued. Store sales have fallen in the main but internet sales have more than made up for those declines. International sales have boomed in recent years and margins are higher due to lower cost of goods sold. All in all it is a mixed bag for people in business. However, the news is not all bad.

Besides, what is bad news is temporary. So the price of oil is down; it will rise again. Same for butter, milk, beef and other food stuffs. Seasonal changes happen throughout the year on cycles. Changes occur with major obstacles encountered like weather, disease and natural disasters. Just imagine how things change in war torn areas? At least we don’t have bothers with that! Unless of course you count terrorism in the US.

Over time changes force us to adapt to the prevailing conditions. Always have. This is life and it is what it is. We don’t define it. We do adapt to it, however, or change defines us!

Where does that leave us? Looking for other things of value that will replace those that have lost luster? Also new products and services that will fill opportunity gaps as they appear? The closing of one door opens another. Same with windows; most open and close; experiment with them and develop your own opportunities. Not enough windows? Make more of them to capture the light and the view!

Did I say adapt? Yes, I did.

And that’s what is called for during any time of change. Matter of fact a lot of people provide the change before adaptation and vice versa. There are always currents of change in process. That’s what people do. Find a need and fill it. Did you notice something that doesn’t work very well and then improved upon it? Yes! And that’s what I’m talking about.

Thinking up the new thing is very big. However getting that thing noticed and brought into the mainstream is even bigger. We are not talking about promotion and selling here. We are talking marketing. Perhaps we should capitalize that? – MARKETING. There, I said it in big letters.

Marketing is a service, a professional one. It is very creative and requires people who understand human communication. Image. Words. Timing. Message formation and release. Communication networks to spread the message. Researching the receipt of the message and measuring results. Tweaking the message and delivery. Maintenance of the image and presence in the marketplace.

That’s what I’m talking about and the subject of marketing is the placement and selling of a product or service so it becomes successful and sustainable.

Most people do not know how to market. They also don’t want to pay for it. So effective marketing is rarely done. Thus new products and services die on the vine or in birth, never seeing the light of day. Well intentioned and well conceived as they are these bright new ideas don’t make it to market.

Sometimes a product or service becomes obsolete in the midst of success. They also become overpriced and fall out of favor as a result. Over-sized homes is one such albatross. So are oil/petroleum/fossil fuels. Their prices become so high that alternatives are developed. New fashion in housing is created – enter the Tiny Homes movement! Downsizing becomes stylish and important life-values replace things as a focus of quality of life.

It is expensive to re-tool a society to use a different energy source. Developing electric or hydrogen powered automobiles is a big expense and risk. Will people change to the new modality? Will they realize the benefits of doing so? Will the pricing become affordable to the masses quickly enough to save the new technology of transportation? Who knows? Unless we try we will never know. But the effort is made and it lives among us at the present. Let’s hope it succeeds.

Meanwhile the resources and treasures we have invested in one technology will shift to the new ones. And so it has happened in the past and will in the future. All it takes if faith in the new, and time. And pockets deep enough to remain in the game long enough to see the results.

And then market the hell out of it all. Nothing gets adopted that is not known by the public. The message has to be crafted, made and sent. The timing has to be right. Sometimes this is lightening quick. Sometimes it is slow and well-hidden. If it is right for the moment it will be viewed, considered and used or refused.

The good survive. All we have to do is try. And that’s what I mean by moving with the punches. Learn and adapt to the changes and the new. But first determine if it is better than the old. If yes, shed the old and move on.

What punches are you noticing these days? Are you getting out of their way? Are you adapting? Are you anticipating this interaction and engaged?

Good for you! Keep working it.

January 18, 2016