Over at the Business In General, or BIG blog, Scott Campbell has some timely advice for business owners: " recognize and forgive oneself of things beyond your control such as natural economic cycles and political dynamics."  Just about every small business owner missed goals last year, no matter how hard they worked to duck or mitigate the effects of the recession.  But now is the time to concentrate on things you can do to right the ship, and put your business on better footing in a year in which many expect recovery will come, albeit slowly.  

Campbell suggests five areas to concentrate on: updating your marketing plan; be adaptable; learn to love technology; find a system/process that works, and activity, about which Cambell adds:

...first and foremost is activity. I’ve seen my share of organizations that have seemingly gone into hibernation mode. They laid off workers, froze spending, and have been essentially putting things on hold until the economy “comes back”.

While it’s certainly smart to evaluate and prudently keep expenses in check, a wait and see posture will not help…particularly with all the changes going on beyond general economic conditions. So waiting just isn’t a good answer. Action breeds momentum, interest and engagement.

The nice thing here is that while things have slowed down, there continues to be new developments in marketing, particularly online tactics. And there’s no lack of things to do positioning yourself within this medium. It just takes a commitment to do so.

Read Creating Certainty in Uncertain Times here.