Surviving the next year is going to be a major challenge for many publishers and businesses in general, small and large alike. There are no longer any guarantees of safety for anyone. Many household names have been shaken to their foundations and some have tumbled into the abyss. Lehman Brothers in the US, HBOS in the UK, GM, Woolworth, Citigroup, all of them going, going, gone!
Book sellers are undoubtedly going to feel the squeeze, and this will probably be reflected in reduced sales which in turn will lead to reduced orders. So what are you going to do, how are you going to react? By reducing prices to make yourself more competitive, by toughing it out or by raising prices in an attempt to claw back some of the lost ground.
Often companies react by slashing their marketing budget, a senseless move that leaves a company weak and vulnerable when their is an upturn and a move that also has an immediate impact on its current products. It may be that the most pro-active thing you can do is to raise the amount of PR and advertising you can do to capitalise on the weakness of your competition. As with houses, cars and retail in the high street, in the world of media a position of strength can be gained by negotiating a bargain.
Many publications and media outlets are in the same position of taking the best offer or reducing their prices. Take advantage of your competitors misfortune or its inability to react ,and maximise your opportunities where possible and when appropriate. There are no guarantees as I said earlier. I dare say not one of the major banks ever considered for one moment that they would be where they are now, but their failure to act and respond to a situation crippled them.
If you listen very carefully you can hear the trees are falling
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