Getting Serious About Spending

Dear Information Marketers,

I was having lunch with my colleague Adrian Newman and he started telling me some stories of spending. First he noticed some people at the local lottery kiosk buying large ticket amounts. Later, at the mall, he saw people buying massive amounts of electronics. And even later, he found out that a colleague who is very strapped for cash due to bad real estate investments is going on a very expensive cruise with his wife and children.

Wow.

I too have seen this kind of thing lately. When I drifted over to the local pub to see my friends the other night, I saw people needlessly buying rounds of drinks or food. Pub food and rounds of Guinness ain't cheap (sadly). My buddy back in my home town just bought a new snow machine which, given it's $10 000 price tag and the fact that it's almost March, tests the limits of irony for his declaration that "Now I can go like Hell whenever I want." And I would tell you about a cousin's VISA bill from a recent shopping spree, but, well...

Again, wow.

But what is the real lesson here? Is all spending bad? Are times that poor economically that we have to become armed guards over our own personal money reserves? Of course not. You need to spend some money on holidays, leisure time, and the like. It's human nature and allows us some much deserved luxury. But discretion is key, especially when things aren't exactly stable in the economy right now. Until the forecast changes for the better, it's best to be safe.

I hate gloom-and-doom news. It creates irrational fear and anxiety in people. But the news these days, especially in the finance pages, has not been good. Hence, it's your job to get tough with yourself. You have to cut corners and curb excesses. And as information marketers, this is especially true. Watching over your finances is so crucial, both in good financial times and in bad.

Part of being in business is staying in business. Spending large amounts of money needlessly is both wasteful and hazardous to the success of your business. If you want to stay successful, you have to watch what you spend. It's that simple.

Good luck!

JB

PS We have some new changes taking place here at IMI. Check us out here for some news and stay tuned for the next posting.