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1. The China crisis together with high personal debt
2. Broadband
This is being written in the Autumn of 2006. As conditions alter I'll add notes.
1. The China crisis
Domestic inflation has been running at almost 4% in recent times -that's nearly double the Bank of England's 2% target. But overall inflation has been kept down by the number of cheap imports of electrical goods from China.
With prices of Chinese goods set to rise, this could push inflation up and that is begining to concern the governer of the Bank of England, Mervyn King. Interest rates may have to be raised.
Personal debts in the UK are at record levels.
The extended period of low interest rates has tempted people to borrow more and the total UK personal debts now stand at 1.2 trillion pounds. (source: Financial Times)
Mortgage debts have doubled since 1996, and to repeat - this is whilst interest rates have been low.
What will happen if interest rates go up? They'll not stay low forever. People will spend less money.
(note: On 19/4/07 many of the lenders have said they are no longer offering fixed rate mortgage deals. If you haven't got one you'll be lucky to get one. They realise that we are in for a few hikes in the rates. Get ready for the bumpy ride.)
As you will see if you request our free marketing newsletter (mentioned on the left of your screen) it only takes 3 customers less per 100 that you have, spending £3 less per £100 that they would spend, 3% less often to HALF your profits. (Note: This newsletter has been removed from the opt-in box. You CAN get a copy but you'll have to use the contact me page and request it. We removed it to show another report that warns businesses what a bad investment a website can be if you don't have the time and resources to monitor it.)
If interest rates rise, that will happen to your competitors and it could happen to you if you don't plan in advance.
If and when this happens, it will be the businesses that have a marketing strategy in place that will be best able to continue selling to consumers.
If you sell to other businesess you don't escape either. As demand for their products or services drop, they'll need less of yours. If they look to cut costs you may be out altogether.
Click here to see how you can solve this for just £200, without even having a website.
2. The explosion in broadband
Broadband use has dramatically increased over the last couple of years.
In 2005 there were 9.77 million broadband lines in the UK.
By 2008 it is forecasted to be 18.46 million according to the market research company Point Topic Data.
That means that 64% of all UK households will have broadband.
With access speeds of 8 megabytes already available and 16 megabytes soon to be available from Sky, the things people will be able to do with their computers will make shopping as easy and as normal as watching television.
It's creating a habit of searching on Google for the things that you want, so that you can check out prices and get more information without being confronted by a salesperson, and whether you ultimately buy online or not -you're armed with the information you need.
Now this may seem like a contradiction.
On the one hand I'm warning you that there's less money about and it's going to get worse, and on the other I'm telling you that more and more people are buying over the internet with broadband.
At this point you have to remember what a website actually is.
A website is a tool that businesses use to provide consumers with far more information about their products than could ever be acheived through an advert or a telephone call.
So if you're fighting it out with your competition to get the sale from a consumer who has less overall money to spend and therefore more cautious about where they spend it, it's the business who provides the most information and answers the most questions that is more likely to get the sale.
So if you don’t have a website already, now is the time to get one before the customers that are logging on start finding their way to your competition.
And if you can get a website that is better than your competitions then you're streets ahead.
Imagine your customers being able to watch virtual tours of your business and it’s products or download brochures, get product releases and tips and tricks to help them get the most from your products.
Whatever you want them to see, such as their goods being made, your services performed or testimonials from satisfied customers, they will be able to see it on your site if you wish.
Mercury can produce sites as big or as small as you want, with whatever you want on them.
From single page ‘advert’ sites to one packed with information, shopping carts, animation or video, it’s all available to you from our top designers at prices that are affordable and tailored to your individual needs and available budget.
Prices start at around £250 and rarely go above £1600. Not a lot when compared with the loss of profits that not having a website could bring in these potentially turbulent times.
If you'd like to see how to get at least a ten fold increase on the investment you've made when buying a website, ie: If your website's cost £800, how you can get an £8,000 return, then enter your e-mail address in the opt-in box at the top left of your screen to get the free special report. Part one will be sent to you almost immediately (See earlier note).
Mercury websites provide Web Design in Sheffield, Website Design in Sheffield and Website Design and Marketing in Sheffield
Contact me for a 104 point marketing audit. If you sell busines to business there's no charge.
You don't even need to have a website or want us to design one, just as long as you're in Sheffield this marketing service is for you.
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