I’ve been meaning to write this post for several days now, ever since I read an article in our Las Vegas Review Journal dated Monday, February 16th. In fact, it’s been sitting on my desk just waiting for the right moment to go from paper pile to post.

What really caught my attention was the headline, “Cultural differences: Economic values may explain why businesses owned by Chinese-Americans are faring well in the recession.”

We see all too often people pulling away from the very thing they should be doing during down times or slow times or tough times – especially online. The energy exerted to build a business is tamped down (or shut down) in the hopes that somehow, magically, sales will continue – in spite of no advertising or marketing.

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Here’s something that very well may (and should) change your perspective on “should I or shouldn’t I be advertising and marketing or even blogging?”

“The fortunes of a newspaper published out of a second-floor Chinatown Plaza office may give us insight into differing attitudes about money and ways of surviving tough economic times.

In a time when a 162-year-old national news chain such as the Tribune Co. file for bankruptcy protection, the Las Vegas Chinese Daily News is actually growing, fueled by an increase in advertising. The paper has gone from 16 to as many as 36 pages since printing its first copy five years ago.”

The article goes into further details by defining how different cultures view our current times; “…many Chinese business owners consider a time of economic stress a time to spend money on advertising.”

This advertising “outlook” is considered to be a definite separation of U.S. and Chinese cultures. Where the former sees nothing but doom and gloom when it comes to doing business, the latter are taking advantage of great rates and exceptional deals. These factors also attribute to the fact that over 20,000 valley residents of Chinese heritage are surviving the highest unemployment rates in a generation.

“Chinese attitudes about money include the notion of saving profits and growing slowly, instead of leveraging long lines of credit and expanding rapidly, several business owners said.”

Now here’s the best part, and what I’d really like you to come away with (having read this post… thank you):

“The Chinese rely more on what is known as a relational economy, compared to Americans, who function more in a “me economy.” The Chinese system is based more on, “I do something for you, you do something for me,” with everyone being on the same level.”

Sounds a lot like the Golden Rule applied with a fine paint brush to the art of keeping customers coming back by treating them right.

So if you’re asking yourself, “Is now a good time to slow down with my marketing and advertising?” we think it best to tell you the answer is no.

Recovering lost ground is costly.

Instead, plan and budget for an amount comfortable (and affordable) for you in today’s economy. Be it $10 or $1000, keep your business plans afloat and keep them growing.

We’ve said it before and we’ll keep on saying it. The internet waits for no man, woman, or child. Let up for even a tiny bit of time and your competitors are going to sweep right over you.

Your wise move is again budgeting. Keep your ads out there, continue investing your time and energy, too.

These rough times will not last forever, even if (in the moment) the light at the end of the tunnel doesn’t shine very brightly.

Stay on top of what you’ve been doing, and when the sunshine hits, you’ll be well positioned – ahead of your competition – in the months and years to come.

… little blue birds would be singing, cleaning my kitchen, making our beds, and in general making my day even grander

(Even if you voted for “the other guy” you’re going to want to read this post, I promise.)
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A while back on Andy Beard’s blog, I read his review of both TrafficJam and Blogrush. Andy’s post leans heavy on the TrafficJam side, but conveys lots of additional information you also might want to know.

Please Note: To have your posts show up in TrafficJam, you will need to sign up a FREE account first at Blogrush

Here’s a quote from Andy’s post (the links out are ours):

“Even if you have absolutely no interest in TrafficJam or Blogrush, I strongly suggest you read this post, especially if you are interested in viral marketing techniques that are guaranteed to build you an email list.”

Also in Andy’s post, he mentions of course the creator of TrafficJam, John Reese.

The long and the short of both posts (both well worth reading) is that bloggers gain the advantage of having their writing seen and read, and in return marketers also get the edge on uncovering what people are talking about… in other words, this is a really cool research resource tool.

You’ll note that the conversation on Beard’s blog harkens back to February. Okay, so TrafficJam is no longer “brand spankin’ new” in that sense. But as a resource for getting the word out about your blog, and from a marketer’s perspective of needing to keep one’s finger on the pulse of what’s going on in the blogosphere, we think you’ll agree that this is a winner.

Have you been using TrafficJam? What has been your experience?

If not, what is your first impression of this as a potential resource? Useful, not…??

Please let us know by adding your comments to this post!

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Today, while reading my horoscope in a really oddball local magazine, I was struck by how much this particular one makes sense. Here’s what it said:

“The composer Stravinsky had written a new piece with a difficult violin passage,” writes Thomas Powers, quoted in the book Sunbeams. “After it had been in rehearsal several weeks, the solo violinist came to Stravinsky and said he was sorry, he had tried his best, the passage was too difficult, no violinist could play it. Stravinsky said, ‘I understand that. What I am after is the sound of someone trying to play it!’”

It goes on to inform me to keep this message close to the heart in the coming week in order to have “the proper perspective as you go about the work of doing the best you can, at a task that is virtually impossible to perfect.”

Now doesn’t that sound exactly like internet marketing?!

We each do our very best with the methodology at hand, but never do any of us truly “perfect the art” because the art of being online is so fluid.

However, it’s not in the getting it perfect where we succeed, it is in the trying and applying where we shine.

We’ve known our share of online entrepreneurs who take a direct course of action and willingly try their hand at all new proposals (or revisit “old” ones to fine tune them). Conversely, we’re also familiar with some would-be online business people who seem too shy to get out there and give it a go.

Maybe what holds some back is that feeling of “I won’t get it right.” There is no getting it wrong (other than blatant spamming of course). The beauty is in the doing!

Keep this message in mind as you go about your week (each week!) and put yourself out there! Meet other people in the social communities, write that article you’ve been putting off and post it in Hubpages and article directories! You can do it!

Here’s to sweet music to you in all your endeavors!

In order to properly review anything, you must first read and apply what you’ve read in order to give your review the proper perspective. My reason for opening this post in this fashion is simple… There are many times when we really and truly doubt that all the great claims to fame given in testimonials are true. Also, if a product launches and there are a ration of people offering “get this from me and I’ll give you this and this and this” it does (more often than not) make us suspect. We ask ourselves, “Did they really have the time to delve into the product before slamming it out there to their lists, visitors, etc.?” We may never know…

However, we did purchase Atomic Blogging 2. In fact, we purchased it just about a week ago on Feburary 29th. We then read the entire 140 pages – even though areas we are already familiar with – download when applicable, and applied (and are still applying) what this large volume offers.

In a nutshell, Alvin Phan has done a tremendous job covering a broad spectrum of efficiently and effectively using blogging to make money online. Even if you are not interested in the money aspect, the wealth of information on properly setting up the basics and then adding in the icing is superb.

If you are totally new to blogging, you’ll be exceptionally pleased. If you are a veteran, you’ll enjoy the benefits of this ebook by making use of either 1) applying all his strategies or the ones you are missing or 2) find bigger and better ways to grow your blog. Atomic Blogging is for everyone.

We consider ourselves fairly knowledgeable when it comes to blogs. Sure each template has its quirks, but the overall (and more specific) tools and ideas we know about and use. However, we have made many strategic changes to our format based on Alvin’s recommendations. We’ve downloaded, installed, and are applying several plug ins we were not using (and in a case or two not aware of) to enhance the strategic marketing of this blog. (If you don’t know what “plugins” are don’t worry, Alvin really does a great job covering everything you need to know.)

The meaty stuff is shown (step by step in most cases) throughout the book, but page 107 starts what Alvin writes as the:

“… real secret in the Atomic Blogging system is here in this last chapter.”

(This section runs from page 107 to page 136 so it’s not one of those “fluff” chapters.)

Suffice to say that at just $47, your purchase of Atomic Blogging 2 is sure to be a “keeper” in your online marketing arsenal.

Enjoy!

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Please feel free to leave your comments, positive, negative or in between regarding this and any/every post on our blog. We give backlinks!