Every Year begins with those familiar words! No matter what has gone before or is likely to come after, the words somehow renew our spirits and make anything possible.
The keyword for 2010 seems to be uncertainty. Economists are on a sliding scale from optimism to pessimism with a zillion shades of grey in between. The data isn’t much clearer. What is included in it, what isn’t? The new health plan is just another tax. But since no one seems to know exactly what is in it, how can anyone say for certain. So where do you stand in all this uncertainty.
We have stated from the outset that we make no pretense at being GoofProof. The word was intended as a reminder that being GoofProof is a goal - something to work towards - something to include in your business plan. In a planet of uncertainty, therefore, the correct path is to add as much clarity and certainty of purpose to your own small business or professional offerings as you possibly can.
First, decide exactly what you are giving the public and why. How does your product or service enhance their security, their status, their health, their happiness, their general well-being? How does it make them feel? The clearer and simpler you can make this statement, the more your wares will sell. Think back to the old Campbell’s Soup’s “Umm-mm good!” Just two little words that make you feel warm and well-fed. Or the current Geico’s “Fifteen minutes to save 15%.”
The less necessary to survival your product or service is, the more important this “feel-good” additive becomes. Actually it is the basis of all successful advertising. The closer you can get to fulfilling the basic human desires of being loved, being rich, powerful, admired, comfortable, and secure, the closer to being GoofProof you will be. Happy New Year!
