What's in your glove box?
Last Thursday was May Day. My youngest daughter and I traveled across town to present my husband's mother with a bouquet of fresh-cut flowers; an annual tradition that began centuries ago in Europe, but is seldom observed any more. It was evidently cherished by our surprised family matriarch. May Day was also her half birthday. We chose orchids for their longevity, symbolic of Grandma herself.
We had classic Colorado weather. The warm, sunny day turned chilly and threatened light snow by evening. I'm a native, so it's not news to me that spring-like conditions in the morning often turn wintry by nightfall. On days like this we hear clichés in the vein of, "In Colorado, you can shovel your walk in the morning and have a beer on the patio at night." One day last week I wore shorts and sandals in the daytime sun, but donned my down jacket and jeans to go out a few hours later. We've tolerated the fluctuating extremes seemingly more than usual this year.
My Colorado parents taught me to dress in layers. If it gets cool, you're ready. If it gets warm, you peel them off. I've lived here long enough to know I need to keep an ice scraper, a blanket and snow boots in my trunk, and gloves in my glove box.
Other climate changes
How's the state's business climate? Here are a couple of quotes from a press release for an April report from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment: "...economic performance continues to outpace the nation... Over the year, nonfarm wage and salary employment has grown by 38,500 or 1.7 percent."
The above report is optimistic. I'm no economy expert. I know there are a lot of indicators to factor into a forecast, such as consumer spending, building permits, interest and inflation rates. If you're interested in reading a detailed sixteen page report prepared by Dr. Tucker Hart Adams, I invite you to check her
2008 Economic Forecast.
How do we weather unexpected business downturns? We certainly can't stop marketing. We need a contingency plan. When competition gets tough, customers and prospects still need to hear from us. Our name and brand needs to persevere if we're to reduce the anticipated negative impact on our bottom line. Persistence and creativity are key pieces of equipment to keep in our trunk, to cover us during economic climate surprises.
If you've experienced some budget crunches, I'd like to help you keep your marketing efforts on target for 2008. I want to be in your glove box when your organization faces economic surprises. Please contact me today, so we can begin preparing plans to protect you from Colorado's business climate.
Yours truly,
Gail
Gail Kirkegaard
Business Writing Services
Phone: 720-201-8743
Web:
www.gailkirkegaard.biz
E-mail:
gail@gailkirkegaard.biz