Without further awe due,  our strategic recap of the year and predictions for 2010:

Notable Trends from 2009:

•     Decline in consumer confidence
•     Decline in purchasing power
•     It became much harder to sell anything above $100
•     Customer service requests skyrocketed
•     A crazy real estate market (and for the people that sell products/services into this market)
•     Webinar sales dropped (anything over $497)
•     High end coaching sales dropped (anything over $497/month)
•     Membership site sales/continuity sales flourished
•     Attendance at physical seminars dropped
•     Attendance at virtual seminars climbed

Everything continued to move to the web -– we are becoming more and more mobile and virtual

One of my favorite quotes is as follows:

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. ~ Albert Einstein

The way I see it, it’s a miracle that we all survived in 2009 with our businesses still in-tact.  The key I want to point out however is the last point on the 2009 trends —  everything continued to move to the web.   My grandpa is on facebook and twitter (which I think is amazing), Pizza companies are letting people order their food online (small mom and pop shops, not just the big ones), customer service is going virtual, events are moving from in person to over the web.   This is a trend that cannot be ignored and one that is showing no signs of stopping.   Many companies are now making it mandatory for their employees to take a class on social media and beyond!  The good thing is:  you’ve got us on your side. We stay on top of the trends so you don’t have to keep up with the ever changing movements.

Lets move onto some of my strategic predictions for 2010:

•     Blogging is coming back baby!  Yes, that’s right.  Consumers and businesses are flocking to blogs for great content.   Google also continues to index sites much higher that have blogs.  Ill give you an example:  Google  blackberry marketing strategy.   Our blog is #4 in the search engines out of almost a million sites, from a single blog post.  Yes we worked our magic a bit as well, but this started with a blog post
•     Continuity is the name of the game — we’re encouraging ALL of our clients to have at least one stream of passive revenue from the web.   We want to make sure you have consistency from month to month, rather then one amazing month and one thats just at par. We like to keep our price point below $100 a month and above $30.
•     We’ll need to go more virtual for customer service.  Consumers are still going to be demanding.  So, lets meet that demand with virtual support, and FAQ areas, and various how to videos to alleviate phone calls.
•     Brand Transparency and Authenticity is critical.  Since our clients are among the elite of the elite, this is normally never an issue. However, now more than ever its crucial to have a clean brand across the boards and to be authentic in your communication
•     Social Media will change a bit. There is going to be a facebook revolt — and we’re ready for it.  There are just too many people on facebook with too much personal information.  For the clients that most of you are after, more private social sites like Affluence.com will serve us better
•     Virtual event sales will rise drastically — these are the live video events and events on virtual worlds like SecondLife.com
•     Mobile marketing will start to become mainstream.  This is the hottest marketing trend out there right now.
•     Physical book sales will decline — virtual sales will flourish.  Having your book available on the Kindle for example is necessary
•     It will be an up-and down economy — so fasten your seat belt for a fun ride!

Mike Tasner
CEO - Taz Solutions, Inc.
Internet Marketing/SEO Services/Online Strategy