Diana Sabrain On SexyFemaleMarketing (On Revamp Mode, Stay Tuned.)

It was a black Monday on Wall Street and September 15 had more in one day of financial history than we’ve seen since the great crash of 1929 stock market.

By now the whole world would know that Lehman Brothers, the 158-year-old American investment bank giant has collapsed to what was mentioned the world’s biggest ever bankruptcy story.

I shall skip explaning about the whys and hows Lehman Brothers collapsed and get straight to the point on why this biggest collapse in history bothers me so much.

After watching and reading the news on Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, AIG-AIA, Morgan Stanley about this catastrophe, I thought about two words.

Stabililty and Security.

I was mapping in my mind about the fates of 26 000 employees Lehman Brothers in United States and around the globe including the 2500 employees in India. Nearly all of its employees would be scouring for new employers. Some would be lucky enough to be saved and scouted by other companies but some would be jobless for as long as till there’s positive signals emerging from the US economy.

However with the Lehman Brothers collapse, hiring would be slow in a lot of sectors around the globe. All hirings across sectors would be hit very badly in the ripple effect especially the top management.

“This turmoil is a major threat to our economy and its ability to create good-paying jobs and help working Americans pay their bills, save for their future, and make their mortgage payments,” Mr Obama said in a statement.

I believe many of you can agree with me that though Mr Obama may have only mentioned Americans, the whole world is equally greatly affected.

So with this news, let me ask you a question. A question which I’ve been asking women time and again to bring them out of their comfort zones and into a point of realization.

What is really Stability to you now?

What is really Security to you now?

Many of you would and used to tell me a few versions to this question:

1) A full-time job

2) A good promotion

3) Working for a great company

4) A rich husband with a stable job

With the 26 000 employees jobless overnight, is a job really a sign of stability, what more security?

With the 26 000 employees jobless overnight, is your good promotion any good at all?

With the 26 000 employees from a very very reputable company jobless overnight, does working for a great company means you’re more stable that others who work for a more inferior company?

With the 26 000 employees jobless overnight, is having a rich husband with a stable job means you can afford to sit around at home and depend on your husband’s salary for 2 reasons; 1) You think he would never be fired. Oh wait, I am sure you’re smart to know he may have a 50-50 probability getting fired but you just shirked it off and HOPE it never happens. 2) His company would never falter? You’ll reason out with yourself that your hubby’s company is a big enough company. Thus big companies with sufficient employees equate to a “successful company that would hardly ever go bust”.

You’re so dead wrong!

These have given me two conclusions about a lot of women out there.

1) Dependence

2) Complacency

Don’t get me wrong my Dear Sexy Ladies. I am not cussing you. I am here to actually help you face the painful truths about your full-time jobs and your husbands, boyfriends or future husbands. I am here to give you solutions that would work for you.

I am a woman myself and I must admit the facts abovementioned are painful and difficult to swallow. However being a woman I truly understand your fears, desires, needs and concerns.

So trust me on this, alright?

The truth is, having a full-time job is never a guarantee that you’re stable and secure. I am sure many of you know that. What many of you are ignorant about, is not knowing that having a full-time job is NOT more stable or more secure than being self-employed or running your own business.

This is the biggest MISCONCEPTION and LIE!

Let me give you 2 scenarios, Full-Time Job and Self-employed.

Scenario Full-Time Job:

You or/and your partner have a full time job and in any circumstances, one day either of you or both lose your job. You’ve some savings from your fixed salary which could tide you and your family for some time. In this current state of our distressed Economy, it is highly uncertain if you would ever get a job in the next 2 terms.

Even if our Economy is more positive, there is still a 50-50 probability you might not get a new job as soon as your savings could last you. Simply because you are competing with 3 categories of people; 1) Others who lost/quit their jobs to find new jobs. 2) Fresh graduates with more updated skills and are cheaper to facilitate 3) Foreign talents from all over the region.

How long can your savings tide you through? How much really?

All that you’re armed with are skills of the last job.

You’re maturing in age.

The bomb is ticking very quickly for you. The money is depleting away…FAST! What are you going to do?

Scenario Self-Employed:

You are solely responsible of your income. Your income can either be as minimal as the lowest mineral of the earth or as mind-blowingly limitless high possible. Your life is not in anyone’s hand as you are your own financial decision. You’ll never be fired. In fact, the only way for you to get fired is to burn yourself with kerosene.

So, let’s say you’ve implemented good marketing and business strategies and business is doing so well you’re fetching 5 to 7 figures a month then BOOM! Economic turmoil and your business suffers a stall point. Inevitably product sales would slow down, your clients would stop dealing with you for the time being and your monthly income would be decreased.

You analyse your business and find alternative ways to keep the business going - Tweak product/services price, use other marketing strategies to attract and sell to consumers, outsource or even use these skills to move on to another business which suits the current financial situation.

The move to venture into another business might be temporary or long-term just to tide through the current unstability of your current business. It might also bring you bigger opportunities! The ball is in your court.

With the advent of internet both in commercialised and non-commecialised ways, you are forced to keep up with the latest strategies to run a successful business.

You may or may not have savings. However don’t you see how much potential you have by having “money making” skills?

Your skills would be diversified and more updated because you’ve to keep to the trends of technology(internet) and economy rather than just focusing solely on One skill. Don’t you think the effort is needed to learn those skills, it is worth it?

In addition, you don’t have to worry about maturing of age and be forced to leave the workforce to make way for younger blood.

Now, the only ways you can certainly be doomed to failure is when -

1) You refuse to keep up with the fast growth of technology especially the internet.

2) You’ve serious discipline issues and are very lazy to even listen to a 5 minute video each day.

3) You did not take the effort to do a more extensive research on the industry of your business and your niche market.

4) The skills, strategies and tactics you used might not be the ideals to run your business.

4) You are not an ACTION-TAKER.

During bad times, you may earn not as much as your current salaried job. However which would you prefer?

Having no job and relying on your fast depleting savings? Armed with NO money making skills but only skills of your last job and at the end of the day might have a very high chance of not finding a job at all and going bankrupt or penniless?

OR

Being self-employed, being versatile on running businesses because you’ll be armed with money making skills, perhaps not much income for the time being but enough to survive and have the basic necessities fulfilled? On top of that when the economic improves, your income could be exponentionally higher?

Penniless Versus Surviving Income?

You choose.

I understand you feel fearful that you might not be able to pull off running a business, I know you fear being put down in a male-oriented trade and I know you deep inside you, there’s a small voive saying that you should take that leap of faith.

What I also know is that your greatest concerns are just learning barriers which everyone of us goes through. I know, for sure ladies, you’re thinking…

“But how do I start, Diana? Where do I start? And What do I need to do to try to generate some income myself? Do you think I can make it? If I don’t succeed, will my friends and families laugh at me?”

I want you to understand my dear sexy ladies that fear is just feeling. Be aware of that fear and overcome it. Do not run away from what you fear and surpress it in any way. Surpression leads you NOWHERE.

I also want you to understand my dear sexy ladies that there’s nothing to be ashamed of, of failure. In fact when you allow yourself to fail fast, you’ll accelerate your success magnificiently! It is in failures that you’ll find ways to improve and ways to prevent making the same mistakes.

Failure is a tool to move forward and a tool to remind you that you’re human. We have our bad days and we just have to keep moving forward.

This is the attitude of a positive YOU.

The negative YOU will view failure as many steps backwards and a reason to dwell about the “what-if” and so on. Things which waste time and decrease your doors of opportunities.

SO DON’T EVER BE LIKE THAT.

Take it from me, when I took a leap of faith to start my businesses I fear failure. I am a perfectionist by nature and it has done some harm towards me. When certain expects of business didn’t work out, it would be so difficult for me to accept failure. I would dwell on the unnecesary and it sucks out the energy out of me.

However I decided that if I want to make money and make my and my loved ones lives easier, I have to be at my optimal peak condition mentally and physiologically. I realised that smart people who use their brains would not let their emotions dictate them. Thus I moved forward and embraced failure fast.

You see my Dear Sexy ladies, you cannot really say that being self-employed is very risky nor having a full time job is stable. Either way, everything in life is surrounded by risks. Just look at the negative effects the Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy had done to many women out there.

With this blog post, I want you to Take Action.

Answer these questions below on a notepad or a piece of paper. You may even post your answers in the comment box below as I usually reply to every single comment.

1) Do you think it’s time for you to contribute some income rather than being financially dependent on your partner? And why so?

2) Do you think being armed with marketing, business and money making skills right now are highly beneficial for you? And why so?

3) After reading this post, do you still think having a full-time job is your ticket to Stability and Security? If yes or no, why so?

4) If I tell you now that I would guide you along in your venture towards running your first business, would you grab this opportunity and take action? And why so?

5) What is your commitment level on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being lowest and 10 being highest) if you decide to take this leap of faith as I guide you along?

6) Are you ready to go on a paradigm shift of mindset with me? I know I opened up your eyes in this post, however I do understand that it may take a few more posts before you’re able to accept the change. Thus are you ready to give it a go?

7) What if I told you that you, being a WOMAN, you have the UNFAIR female advantage over men to run a successful business? What if I told you that the unfair female advantage could help you save your marketing campaign budget? Would you grab the opportunity?

All excited ladies?

Look out for the next blog post as you’ll get learn HOW to get started on your leap of faith in business.

Stay Tuned!