Small Business Attitude: Survival or Successful?

Filed in Small Biz Marketing by Matt McGee on November 29, 2008 5 Comments

Is the glass half-empty or half-full? Me, I’ve always been — and hopefully always will be — a half-full person. I think optimism is a powerful force, and an underrated one, too.

It cracked me up tonight when I got a Google News alert that told me about a Small Business Survival Expo in Tampa next month. (emphasis mine) Do you really want to attend a Small Business Survival Expo? Not me. I much prefer something like a Small Business Marketing Unleashed Conference. (emphasis mine, again)

One sounds like a gloomy gathering of weak businesses on the way down; the other sounds like a bright get-together of strong companies on the way up.

Look, I know things aren’t great at the moment, but attitude matters. We get pelted every day with all kinds of gloom-and-doom about the economy, but this holiday weekend has apparently been pretty darn good:

So, small business owner, what’s your plan for December? What’s your plan for 2009? Are you surviving, or are you unleashing? Now’s the time to decide.

“It is your attitude, not your aptitude, that determines your altitude.” (Zig Ziglar)

Comments (5)

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  1. Will Scott says:

    Hey Matt,

    We’re unleashed on a number of levels 🙂

    As you know, we’re looking at a web-site redesign and rebrand right now. Not the sort of investment one makes in a time of survival.

    But the best thing is that our clients are in the same position.

    They’re not just surviving, they’re taking the leash off of us and increasing budgets.

    It’s awesome!

    Natural selection may be in dispute, but we’re definitely seeing that the fit do a heck of a lot more than just survive.

    Rock on brother,
    Will

  2. MikeTek says:

    Great post and point, Matt.

    The language we use is so important for any kind of promotion. Style is as much a priority as content, and a negative message never works.

    It’s not about survival, it’s about thriving in spite of harsh conditions.

    I’ve tuned out much of the economic news myself – I check in every week or so, but it does nobody a bit of a good to focus on those negative factors outside our circle of influence.

  3. Matt McGee says:

    Thanks for the comments, Will and Mike. Glad to see I’m not alone in this idea of thriving over surviving. Mike — I also tune out a lot of the news reports. Seems like most of the coverage these days has an underlying agenda someone’s pushing, but that’s a story for another blog, I suppose. 🙂

  4. Let’s face facts. Being optimistic and positive are important, but not planning is planning to fail. All the optimism in the world are not going to save a business, if there is no realistic hard look on what is necessary to move forward. Really look into all aspects of your business, and look for improvements. Of course do it optimistically.

  5. Matt McGee says:

    Well said, Allan — agreed 100%.

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