The best businesses and business people plan for the bad times.

In fact, they use the “boom” times to plan for the next down times.

You have two choices: prepare and prosper OR lay down and die.

If you want a 7-figure business, chances are you’re not ready to lay down and die. (And if you are, you’re in the wrong place. Stop reading now.)

Here’s the thing: Because of and also in spite of a recession, some businesses will fail. They will fall flat and die. Meanwhile, others will thrive and boom like never before.

The difference?

Attitude.

Knowledge.

The ability to plan and take action on those plans.

Did I mention attitude?

Period. Plain and simple.

So let’s talk a little about attitude. As Napoleon Hill, the great positive thinker and inspiration to millions said, you must cultivate a “PMA,” or a Positive Mental Attitude.

As Hill said, “Whatever your mind can conceive and believe it can achieve.” And it is true.

The best and the brightest and, most importantly, the most successful know they will succeed, let nothing deter them and are willing to do whatever they need to do to survive, move forward and thrive.

Folks, the most successful people don’t develop a “PMA” the day they make their first million or become successful. Their PMA is born and cultivated from the beginning Their PMA is what gets them there in the first place.

So don’t go around with this attitude that you’ll be happy when this or that happens. Get it now. Feel it now. Work it NOW. Because the recession and the economy will do their thing no matter what you do. Your choice lies in how you react and, ultimately, in how good you are at creating and acting on an attitude and a vision for success.

What have you been doing to not only stay positive, which is nice, but to use your attitude to move you forward toward a 7-figure business?

* Take a look at where you are now and what the goal is. Things have changed. It’s a different time, a different landscape. Opportunities are still around, more than ever, but they are different opportunities. Revisit your goals and know how you will reach them.

*Write it down. It may feel strange, but it works. You bring about what you think about. Thoughts become things and all that. Focus your mental (and physical) energy on what you want and where you want to me.

* If it doesn’t make money, DON’T DO IT. Commit to what works and stop doing what wastes time and energy. You know those things you do all the time but don’t know why? Those things are sucking the life out of you and your business. If what you’ve been doing lately is not yielding the results you seek, come up with a new plan of action.

*Take a look at what’s around you. Your work space. The information you digest. The people around you. Are they all positive? Do they lend themselves to your positive mental attitude and, ultimately, to your success? On the other hand, do the people, places or information around you drain you? Get rid of whatever does not work for you. Now. Your business success literally depends on it.

Guess what?

The business and life you have always wanted are within your reach.

And to get there from here, you must – I REPEAT MUST – get rid of this silly fear once and for all.

You know why?

Because there is no better time to start a business than during a recession.

Feeling your customers’ pain, providing them with solutions, setting yourself apart from the competition – all of this is sound business and marketing advice that goes during any period.

Here’s what else I need you to do RIGHT NOW:

1. Resist, at all costs, the very natural temptation to freak out, to panic, to stop spending money, to want to talk with everyone about the crappy economy. When the economy is in the toilet, people talk about it everywhere you look or listen. People tell you to stop spending money. Don’t go with the pack on this one! (If you’re really committed to this one, stop watching the news altogether. Read a book or listen to a CD instead.)
2. Do not, not, not, not decide that your cost-cutting measures will include your marketing. The businesses that make money – more money – during a recession are those that understand that no matter how scary it might feel, spending money on marketing is a necessity (not a choice) at all times.
3. Be consistent. Know what your business goals are and make sure everything you do, every little step, every day is done with your eye on that prize. Take action daily and plan for consistency –while always remaining flexible and open to new opportunities or choices that might arise.
4. Know that pricing is a big deal for lots of customers. While you shouldn’t necessarily lower prices on your big-ticket items (their value is as high as ever), you should offer products or services for all budgets. Listen to them and serve them well. Get new customers in at a variety of levels – WOW them and they are your customer for life.

Yea, you heard me. HOORAY!

I literally would not be where I am right now were it not for really crappy downtimes.

Yea, like now.

I know you know how bad it is. Turn on the news. Go online. Sit in front of the TV for a few minutes. You’ll get the picture very quickly.

It’s bad. And “they” want to you know how bad it is. And then some.

So what’s with my “Hooray!” then?

You see, while it may be difficult to see the forest for the trees, the truth — the absolute fact — is that during a recession or even a depression is the #1 very best time to prep yourself and your business for total and complete success and domination.

Because after the recession comes the boom. The recession is the spark that fuels the explosion that becomes your business on steroids.

Trust me, I know. My most successful periods of growth have come, without exception, during the times when most other people were so full of doom and gloom that they couldn’t get out of their own ways.

Not me. And not you, either.

What is a recession by the way? The word means different things to different people and your standards for using the word may differ whether you are a business owner, an economist or anything else.

There’s lots of recession criteria. When I use the word, here’s what I am referring to:

• Definitely a time when all the “experts” are dooming and glooming – and expecting you to do the same.
• People are hunkering down and attempting to cut down on what they view as “extras.”
• Prices on many goods and services, large and small, change usually lower, usually significantly. 
• Everywhere you go, people are talking (complaining) about the stock market, gas prices, job layoffs, the real estate market in their area and probably politics too.
• Fear motivates most decisions and actions (inactions).

Guess what? You won’t find any of that here in the Tactic 7 blog.

This blog is all about YOUR SUCCESS not just in spite of but BECAUSE OF this recession. And the crappier the economy, the BETTER your outlook. And the better your outlook, the more wildly successful you and your business will be.

So what can you do today, right now, to get moving in the right direction?
1. Turn off the  gloom and doom. It’s not helping you or your business. It’s not serving you in any way. Dump the negativity.

2. Turn off the bad news. And the bad news people. Surround yourself with good people, good news and good ideas. The bad “stuff” is bad. Bad. Did I say bad?

3. Turn on your “Success Mindset.” See things how you would like them to be. Focus on what works and build on it. Dedicate yourself to taking a step and learning something new every single day.

You’re not going to believe this.

Latreassa Goodman isn’t happy with Ronald McDonald.

In fact, she may go to jail because McDonald’s ran out of Chicken McNuggets.

Here’s the story.

Last Saturday, Latreassa ordered a Chicken McNuggets meal.

The restaurant was all out of Chicken McNuggets.  They offered her a huge deal on anything else on the menu.

Good enough for most people but not for Latreassa.

She flipped.

She was in crisis.

And what do you do when you are in crisis?

Call 911. Now.

So she did.

Three times.

To listen to Goodman’s 911 calls, click here, here, and here.

When cops responded to the restaurant, Goodman told them, “This is an emergency. If I would have known they didn’t have McNuggets, I wouldn’t have given my money, and now she wants to give me a McDouble, but I don’t want one.”

The Fort Pierce police weren’t amused.

They gave her a misdemeanor citation for mis-using the 911 emergency number.

But they failed to account for her fondness for Chicken McNuggets.

Even after being issued a misdemeanor citation, Goodman contended, “this is an emergency, my McNuggets are an emergency.”

Wierd huh?

But I cite this story because of an interesting fact.

We’re in a recession.

The banks are failing.

The stock market just made a flushing sound and…

McDonalds is doing better than ever.

Because of their agressive pricing with their “Value meals”, McDonalds is setting sales records.

What can your business learn from McDonalds?

Aside from make sure you have Chicken McNuggets in stock.

Watch for a number of inciteful posts starting next week showing you how to turn the recession into the best year you ever had.

Right here on Tactic7.

Peace.