Expecting Greatness in 2009? Did I not get the memo on the whole recession thing?

Well, yeah. But, I've been through this before, back in 2001 and I'm hoping that I learned something from that.

There's two ways you can go in the coming year. You can buy into the whole pessimistic outlook, that we're in a recession and things are only going to get worse, we're doomed, why bother getting out of bed, etc. If you do take that mindset, you'll likely receive all that you expect....not much.

Or, you can take a different approach. Put on your rose-colored glasses and fill your glass at least half-way. Then, make a plan.

In every down market, there is still opportunity. The key is taking a good look at your marketplace and seeing where the jobs are and if you need to shift gears a little you do so.

Example:

One of of my very good friends, who is also a former co-worker, is one of three partners at a Boston based recruiting firm. They have about 30 people in the company, three different divisions. The one my friend heads up is the administrative division. She has three people in her group, and she works a desk as well. The administrative job market has slowed dramatically in Boston. She keeps in touch with people at the company she used to work for, where she was the top biller in the admin group. That group has 9 or 10 people and they are having a horrible month. My friend's little group is thriving, everyone in the group is at or above 20k in billing for the month.

Why? How is her group doing so much better than the admin group at this bigger, well established competitor?

Diversification. At the big agency, they are not allowed to take other jobs, like marketing or HR or sales.

At my friend's company, they take whatever their clients will give them. They've filled Director of Training jobs, Desktop Managers, Benefits, etc. Right now, I am working on two splits with them, one for a Director of Product Management and a Sr. Marketing Manager. They are busy and anticipating a good January.

If they had not looked outside the box, and only focused on administrative jobs, they would not be having as much success.

I'm also having a very good December, and am planning on January being a good month as well.

Next week is a great week to get all of your ducks in order, and to start preparing for the New Year. Get your database organized, send out a mailing, a little newsletter with a few hot jobs....you'll be amazed how successful that can be in generating referrals.

What else am I going to do to be successful in 2009? I'm going to develop my 'wish list' of new clients I'd like to work with, and will carve out time each day to reach out to these new clients, introducing myself, marketing a hot candidate, following up on any leads I hear of, etc.

But above all, I'll be focusing on keeping a positive attitude and expecting great things to happen. I've found that when you expect success, you find a way to make things happen. How? Not just by just wishing for it, but by taking action.

The nice thing about what we do is that we have the ability to turn things around very quickly. We can do this simply by focusing on activity. Want more placements? They are a natural by-product of activity. In a down economy, your ratios may widen, you may need to talk to more candidates and clients to get to a placement, but you can still get there. Just increase all of your efforts across the board.

Come in earlier, stay later, interview and recruit more people, which will result in more submittals, and more interviews for your candidates, and more placements. I've found that the job is far less stressful though when you focus on each days activity and just doing more, rather than x number of placements you have (or haven't) made for the month.

I've also found that this job is way more fun the busier you are, and you have complete control over how busy you choose to be. So, just pick up the phone, and have a great 2009!

What are you going to do differently to have a successful year? I always love to hear other people's suggestions and success stories for what works for them.

~Pam