This Issue: Spend Your Marketing Dollars the Smart Way

I’ve always thought it was part of the American dream that each generation would grow up and make more than their parents did.

But a new report shows that American men in their 30s earn significantly less than their fathers.

After adjusting for inflation, it found that men in their 30s now have a median income of about $35,000 per year. That’s a 12 percent drop for men in the same age group 30 years ago who made $40,000 a year.

As recently as 10 years ago, men in their 30s earned 5 percent more than their fathers did when they were the same age.

This is telling because your income in your 30s is usually a good indicator of your lifetime earning. So this survey could mean that overall, this generation might be one of the first to not fare as well as their parents.

So work harder. Don’t just accept that this is the way things are. Show your parents that you have their work ethic. Don’t just accept it. Keep the American Dream alive. It’s what continues to make this country great.

Great advertising doesn't have to be expensive. Consider these low-cost, highly effective marketing strategies that Prof. Don Sexton teaches in his Marketing Mastery Program at Trump University:  

Identify your competitors’ weaknesses and target them directly. Be the only car dealership dealer in your region that offers Saturday service hours or wifi in your waiting room - or be the only health club in your region that has a babysitter on staff. Then trumpet that advantage in your ads.

Deliver your marketing message through tightly focused media. If you are targeting young families in just a few towns, putting handbills or posters in daycare centers can give you much more bang for your marketing buck than running newspaper ads that might reach your target audience - or might not.

Become part of the community where you do business. Sponsoring a sports team, cleaning up a park or donating a piece of equipment to a local hospital weaves your enterprise into the fabric of your community. Your activities will also be covered in local newspapers, radio and television.

Brand your products strongly and consistently. Develop strong product names, memorable taglines ("The Smile Doctor," if you are a dentist), a distinctive product logo - and use all those elements consistently and often.

Those are only a few ideas for getting the most from your advertising dollars. Remember that there is never any point in throwing away thousands of dollars on unfocsued marketing efforts that don't bring the right customers to your door.

 Cash flow is the number one headache for entrepreneurs. If more money is flowing out of your company than is flowing in, you could take a loan to temporarily correct the problem. But since borrowing can dig your enterprise into a deep hole, I would urge you to apply the remedies listed below. They will help you address the underlying problems instead of avoiding them:

Collect money up front. Depending on your industry, it might be customary for you to deliver your goods or services without being paid up front. But why shouldn’t you secure money from clients ahead of time, by asking for a third or a half of the total amount due upon signing an agreement? You can receive the balance upon delivery, because it pays to get as much as you can up front.

Collect accounts receivable. The most effective way to get paid is to keep track of what you are owed, without allowing invoices to get “stale.” Also remind customers of what they owe you and print the words “Remit in 30 Days” or, “Due Upon Receipt” on the invoices you send. And remember that because companies go out of business, getting paid promptly is sometimes the only way you can be assured of getting paid at all.

Stretch out the amount of time you have to pay your vendors. To avoid having to negotiate a timetable on every invoice, establish trade credit accounts with your vendors so you can repay an agreed-upon minimum amount each month.

Liquidate inventory. If you are in a cash flow crunch, liquidating or returning inventory or assets can raise cash quickly. I know one company that generated money quickly by selling a batch of slow-moving products on eBay.

Retain cash. Capture some of the cash that flows through your organization. Set it aside for those “rainy days” and you may never have to endure another cash flow crunch again.

Congratulations, June grads!  You are about to start one of he most energizing periods of your life. What could be more exciting than taking what you have learned and creating a productive and interesting life?

If you are beginning to look for a job, I'd like to offer two pieces of advice.

First, keep the big picture.  Your first job will probably not turn out to be the perfect job for you. But I am certain that it will offer you opportunities to learn many important lessons. Perhaps you will learn about a certain technology or about how to sell. And you will certainly learn how to work with other people and get ahead. So even if your first job has some shortcomings, it can equip you for greater things later on. 

Second, remember that you don't have to get everything right the first time.  Take the pressure off yourself. You are about to test some new waters. As you do, you will probably find that you will need to learn some new skills, get some new training or even drop back and try a different field.  That's fine. Success is about progress, not perfection.

Those points can be difficult to keep in mind just now, when people are expecting great things from you. But if you keep the big picture, stay flexible and keep moving ahead with optimism and energy, you are going to have one terrific  time of it, and one terrific life.

Best wishes from all of us at Trump University.