Christmas Predictions for 2009

Builders make plans. Entrepreneurs make goals. Gamblers make bets. Fools make predictions.

I am quite sure that some of the following predictions will make me look foolish by the end of 2009, but I thought you might be interested in a few of the actions I plan to take, business-wise, next year.

* Prediction: The information industry will hold up relatively well in 2009, particularly among those businesses that give advice.

What I will do about it: Remind my clients that information itself is unwanted. Today consumers are looking for advice. I will remind ETR readers to buy recommended products that explain how to become an information marketer.

* Prediction: General advertising’s decline will accelerate. Dozens of newspaper and magazine publishers will go out of business. At the same time, direct marketing will continue to grow, attracting some of the money formerly spent on general advertising.

What I will do about it: Continue to tell my clients to pay less attention to selling advertising and more to creating and marketing back-end products to their existing customers. I will also recommend to ETR readers that they learn about direct marketing.

* Prediction: The Internet will continue to become a larger and more active medium for commercial transactions. The Great Recession will make other media – print advertising, direct mail marketing, and TV advertising (to name a few) – less economic. Businesses will continue to spend more of their marketing dollars on the Internet.

What I will do about it: Continue to learn about how to be successful marketing on the Internet. I will recommend ETR readers do the same.

* Prediction: Glitzy products will become unfashionable. Hippie products – including artsy, crafty, and green products – will come into vogue.

What I will do about it: Where appropriate, I will adjust my advertising and product presentation to appeal to this growing trend.

* Prediction: Spiritual and self-help products – including books, CDs, seminars, etc. – will become more popular. Those businesses that sell such products via the Internet and by direct mail will achieve the greatest profits.

What I will do about it: Pursue this trend in with my clients. Advise ETR readers to do the same.

[Ed. Note: If you have bought an ETR product or attended a conference and are not receiving Ready Fire Aim, please let us know by sending an e-mail to Michael@ETRfeedback.com.] [Ed. Note: Mark Morgan Ford was the creator of Early To Rise. In 2011, Mark retired from ETR and now writes the Palm Beach Letter. His advice, in our opinion, continues to get better and better with every essay, particularly in the controversial ones we have shared today. We encourage you to read everything you can that has been written by Mark.]