Hmmm… How do I know which advice is best?

Look online, or even look over my shoulder most mornings as I check my email inbox, and you’ll see plenty of advice about how to survive a recession. Some advice is excellent (short, accurate and actionable) and some is very generic. But even the generic can be useful, so it can be hard to decide which might be best to follow. The reality is that most advice is worth considering, but only some will be appropriate to you now.
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And ‘How to survive a recession’ builds in two flaws. First, it’s about survival when the imperative is to thrive. Second, it’s about a recession, not this one. Of course, some businesses will be especially hard hit and survival will be the priority. What follows should be relevant in that scenario too.

Not all spam is spam – but probably it is

If you have a website there’s every likelihood that you’ve received emails promising to dramatically improve everything about it. If you’ve opened one of these it’s alarming how much they seem to know about your specific website.  And they’ll offer to fix everything, for ever, for a very modest monthly fee.
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Their promises can seem alluring. They’ll already have ‘identified’ weaknesses and be ready to take you to the next level. This could be design and user friendliness, or it could be promising to totally fix all the SEO problems, especially the ones you didn’t know you had.

And does the difference matter?

Watching the Royal Platinum Jubilee celebrations recently, it was noticeable how carefully the Royal Family were re-positioning themselves for current times, and for the future.

The image of the Queen, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, and the Cambridges, all on the balcony and without other royal family members, was striking in its simplicity and clarity: we, they seemed to be saying, are the Royals at the heart of the monarchy and the country. Other royal people and events are not the story. 

Are people really quitting their jobs en-masse? And if so, what are they doing when they leave?

It’s surprising how quickly rumour and anecdote become folklore. Never more so than in times of crisis or uncertainty; or when social and economic landscapes evolve in unpredicted ways.

For all its faults, representative democracy is still the best option for personal freedoms, human rights, and thriving economies.

The re-election of Emanual Macron to the French Presidency signals, amongst other things, a real sense of relief. For many of the French it reflects a deep suspicion for the beguiling simplicities of populism. The promises made by the (only just) unsuccessful candidate, Marine Le Pen, and other politicians of her ilk, have sounded warning bells across Europe. 

Mention the Internet and the chances are the initial response will be negative or circumspect. It’s easy to see why. The invasive nature of junk e-mails, probable scams and screen addiction are just a few of the latent menaces. Add to that the pain and abuse that come with trolling, cyber-bullying and pornography, and we could be excused for assuming that the web is a dark influence indeed.

The negatives should not be ignored. They really do cause harm and every society has a duty to control and limit those and other pernicious online behaviours.

However, we should be careful about letting the bad overwhelm the good. The huge majority of online activity is good and at worst it does no harm. On balance, the impact on the lives of millions, possibly billions, of people has been demonstrably positive.
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Here are some striking examples as to why we should be profoundly grateful for the Internet.

​A lady called Melanie contacted me recently.  She had seen some of our video animation work on social media.  Her animator had just let her down, and she was wondering if Future Point 4 Business could step in.  I asked where she was based – she said New Mexico!

The logo is everywhere. Almost everything we buy, almost every business we deal with, has a logo.

It’s that little symbol or design that represents a business, product, sports team or any other group
where identity is important.

The word itself is interesting too. More formally “logotype,” the word has its origins in the ancient
Greek ‘lógos’, which means ‘word’ or ‘speech’. That says a lot – a good logo says a huge amount
about the brand it represents.

Why securing good value requires more than a bit of bargaining.

Has a customer ever asked you for a discount? And what was your reaction? What did it make you think?

In some sectors, this is a regular occurrence but, for most suppliers of goods or services, accurate pricing is a carefully considered part of their business strategy. And for a supplier faced with this request, what goes through their heads? Doesn’t the client value what we do? I’m already competitively priced and I don’t want to cut margins. What is the longer term impact on business with this client if we reduce prices now?