Economic News On The Horizon
Editor’s Note: This newsletter was originally published on Monday, July 11th, 2022.
I am not a pessimist, but it is highly likely with our next upcoming GDP report that we will officially be in a Recession. For background, two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth has been the historic definition – regardless of the spin that pundits and apologists try to interpret when their chosen leader is in charge.
If we’ve been watching, it shouldn’t be surprising to anyone.
The signs have been manifesting for a while. Prices for almost everything have been rising substantially. Fueled by extremely tight labor markets constrained by increased demand post-Covid, inflation touched most sectors.
Government policies (and outlays) possibly delayed what is to come, but the events will unfold.
It is pretty clear on multiple fronts.
- While Tech was insulated from earlier impacts due to high demand, those boundaries are being breached and (like previous “tech bubbles”) could exacerbate the eventual turn. (link)
- Being “late” to cultural shifts is usually a bad thing! (link) Leaving jobs voluntarily approaching an economic downturn will likely be a mistake for those who’ve gotten used to the previous hyper-competitive market for employer hiring.
- Housing bubbles don’t end well. It may be frustrating to potential sellers who missed out earlier, but the real pain is going to be experienced by many buyers who purchased homes in the midst of it. (link)
- While this article highlights rent for businesses as a concern, the reality is that residential rents are encountering the same inflationary challenges too! Due to increasing mortgage rates as supplies of money have been constrained, millions of prospective homebuyers have been priced out of the market from an affordability standpoint. These families and individuals will have to live somewhere and they will turn to rentals (which will continue that upward trend).
As I said, I am not a pessimist. Economic conditions change and with those changes, opportunities change.
If there are a few pieces of advice that I can give, it would be these.
Prioritize The Consistent
In the midst of “bubbles”, it is often a good time to see if the grass is, indeed, “greener on the other side of the fence”. When there are multiple job openings or a plethora of anxious home buyers or other groups who *really* want what you have to offer, it can be a good time for a change. The risk is usually negligible and it is pretty easy to go back to something like what you had before if it does not work out.
In more recessionary times, it is usually better to avoid widespread change. There may be fewer opportunities for another job if you don’t like the one you have (and more competition – from others who were unwillingly displaced) with which you must contend.
If things are working (your home, your car, your lifestyle, etc), it might be better to stay with what you know. Focus on smaller improvements to your current situation over time instead of trying to “hit the jackpot”.
Increase Margin
“Margin”, in this sense, is your ability to live in a positive cash flow state. Do those things that enable you to effectively cover your costs of living. Pay down debt to minimize your recurring expense (aka – your payments). These represent current expenditures for prior purchases and can severely impede your flexibility to life-altering events (i.e. job loss, illness, unexpected expenses, etc).
The more “margin” you have, the more able you are to see (and act upon) the opportunities that will eventually manifest.
Add Value
In recessionary times, some of the best opportunities are more situational than anything else. For those who tried to make a change (or had one foisted upon them) or those lacking margin, their situation is often a prime opportunity for those of us who prepared.
The reality is that tougher times affect the relative value of everything.
- Salaries are often lower
- Assets sell for less
- Unforeseen events force immediate reactions
If you have additional skills to become more valuable at your current job, have that conversation and highlight what else you can bring. (There might even be a raise in it for you!)
If you have the ability to see undervalued assets and increase their value, put those skills to work because you will start seeing more and more of them. (If you are effective at it, it is likely that some of those opportunities will start looking for you!)
Each of these is really effective strategy in good times and bad. The main difference is how aggressively you can act to follow them. To use an earlier metaphor, bad times are when we want to focus more on “hitting singles”. Good times will return soon enough and we can try to hit a few more “home runs”!
How can you stay effective when the SERPs are becoming more competitive? Learn how to use On-SERP SEO effectively and boost your search presence now. via @ViolaEva1: https://t.co/9TFxkWISnj
— SearchEngineJournal® (@sejournal) July 7, 2022
#SEO
I am not sure to whom this quote should be originally attributed. When I checked the world’s #1 information resource (Google), it returned two possibilities T. Harv Eker and Bob Proctor. (Note: I am pretty sure that I heard it over twenty years ago by someone else so they might have been resharing it.)
Regardless, it is a truism worthy of repeating.
In the end, if you are an unethical and abusive person, you will be downright despicable with money and wealth. If you are an overall good person who treats others with respect and fairness, you will be that much better with money.
Lost on so many so often is that money is simply a tool. In the same way that a hammer or a knife or a gun can be used for good or ill depending upon who wields them, money is a means through which we can achieve our goals.
It is only when money is seen as an end in and of itself that problems arise.
- What are you doing with yours?
- What could you be doing differently?
- How do you interact with others through those resources (like money) that you control?
Google Ads diagnostic insights is now on the overview page https://t.co/scK9nWl3qE
— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) July 7, 2022
For those checking out the book reviews, I reviewed Twelve And A Half (Amazon affiliate link) by Gary Vaynerchuk. You can check out my notes at this link.
Keep a lookout as I have finished reading the following books and will be posting my notes for those very soon!
- E-Myth Revisited (Amazon affiliate link) by Michael Gerber [review notes link]
- One Million Followers (Amazon affiliate link) by Brendan Kane
- Content Inc. (Amazon affiliate link) by Joe Pulizzi
- Twelve And A Half (Amazon affiliate link) by Gary Vaynerchuk
Other Links
Google creating Landing Page for algorithm update info
Kudos to our friends at the “All-Seeing G” (or possibly just “all-indexing” *smile*). They’ve added a Landing Page (link here) to a listing of algorithm updates dating back to January 2020. When we’re looking for a historical progression of how Google’s search engine behavior has evolved, congratulations to them for organizing at least the officially announced ones in a single informational page – that will almost certainly rank very high, very quickly!
On a related note, BEWARE of using Link Counts as a reporting or performance metric!
Most of us can improve our Time Management. There is no shortage of tasks on our lists or milestones that we need to achieve. Here’s one technique that I saw that week that you might want to check out.
Editor’s Note: See this post sharing another Time Management / Task Management process that I use called #OneSmallChange.
Difference between Search Queries and Keywords/Key Phrases
While the differences are nuanced, they are important to understand. Search Queries are what Users enter into Search Engines expressing what they want – their Intent. Keywords are those components of our content that suggest our pages will satisfy their Intent. More than anything else, keeping this distinction in mind as you publish content is the most effective way to build (and keep) good search rankings!
WP Themes Team suggests Theme creators use locally-hosted fonts
Most of us use (not create) WP themes for our sites. However, as privacy concerns grow and tighter controls get put in place for the recent proliferation of publicly-shared services used to build features/capabilities, this is a topic to keep in mind for your sites. Be careful what you use, how it behaves, and what protections it offers (or risks it poses) for Users.
How To Create A Content Calendar. https://t.co/CYqcGVgM6o
— Marc Guberti (@MarcGuberti) July 10, 2022
Deepen your knowledge of your target audience and put their characteristics, behaviors, and desires to work for a more effective marketing strategy. Download SaaS Content Marketing: A Complete Guide https://t.co/quXwsi3SBr#ContentMarketingTips #MarketingStrategy #BusinessTips pic.twitter.com/PMD2MTF3hV
— SearchEngineJournal® (@sejournal) July 4, 2022
