Seven Reputational Recession Busting Tips!

My friend Andy Todd said this today:

"1 in 8 people do better out of a recession. If you work out how the ‘1’ does it you’ll do better. If we all work out what ‘1’ does…. No more recession."

Put another way, you have to make sure you're doing the things the next 7 people around you are not doing.

Seven is a great number. It's a magic number! So here are seven top tips to busting this recession:

1. Trim your network. Some of the relationships you have now are holding you back. In fact, many of them have landed you in the mess you're in. You must move on! To do that, you need to trim the fat of the old network. Get rid of some deadwood. Let some of those losers, wasters, tyre-kickers and nobodys go!
2. Rebuild your network. To move onwards, upwards and to the next level, you need a higher level network. How can you network at a higher level? You need some door-openers. Some influencers. Some marquee clients and contacts who can introduce you to their higher level contacts.
3. Exploit your network. Ask for help. Be more open to alliances, joint ventures, exploring mutually beneficial opportunities. Reach out to new people. Rekindle relationships with older contacts and see what brought you together in the first place. Go to people you like and trust, and ask this question: "could we be doing business together?"
4. Define your reputation. What do you want to be known for? By whom? You can be anything but you can't be everything. You can be loved and revered by someone but not by everyone. Set your sail and decide what you want to be the 'go to choice and trusted voice' for. Once you do that, charting your course is easier and more likely to get you to your destination.
5. Raise your profile. Get yourself known. Put yourself out there! As I often say, "it ain't no good being the best kept secret in the world!". The strategy for survival is visiblity. Get your head up and get you, your personal brand, your insight, your thoughts, your products and services, your advocates - get them all out there!
6. Apply your learning. Believe it or not, you already know 95% of all the thing you need to know to be successful. Being a millionaire, a record-breaker, the top of your tree... it's all within you now. So what's missing? Application of your knowledge. You don't do the things you know you should do!
7. Be courageous. Nobody's pretending this is going to be an easy ride. Nobody's saying it'll be over in a few weeks. This is tough stuff. It's not a time or a place for the faint-hearted. If you've got a faith, press in. If you've got a belief, keep feeding it. Have courage!
   

There you go. Seven tips to ensure you're not the unluck seven people out of eight who will struggle and perhaps fail in this recession. Now will you apply any of them?