A summer of good news/bad news.

(The following blog entry was originally posted on Blogger on 08/22/10)

Now that we're two-thirds of the way through summer, and two months since my last blog post, it's time to get all 4 of my followers/readers up to date. A lot has been happening business-wise and of course in current events. Let's start with the bad news.

If anyone remembers the summer of 2010 at all, it will probably be associated with one thing: the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Sure, the economy is still gasping for breath, but the spill stole the spotlight. It dumped 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf, and lasted nearly 3 months before they capped the well head. How it will affect the lives of those who make a living in the spill zone and the long-term future of sea life is anyone's guess. But one thing's for sure: as a nation we haven't taken the necessary steps to diversify our national energy portfolio. And any financial manager will tell you if you're too invested in one area, you take large risks with your investment. And so we have. It has taught oil companies a hard lesson as well: cutting corners on safety will most certainly hurt your employees, their families, your reputation and your share price.

One of the interesting things to track during the Gulf oil spill crisis was the shift in the Advertising/PR strategy of BP. Not only was the clean-up effort a remake of the old black and white movies of the Keystone Cops from the standpoint of those working with or around BP, it was also a slow-motion train wreck from a PR perspective. Not long into the spill, the feel-good ads that presented BP as being "alternative" and "green" disappeared from TV and print ads. They were replaced by BP manager testimonials about how they're "here for the long haul" and that they'll be "making a commitment to the environment" and so on. I don't doubt that the managers in the ads felt they were speaking the truth. But the reality is that BP didn't know heads from tails on how to coordinate the clean-up effort, and I wouldn't be surprised if we see more bad reports in the future coming from beaches and communities where BP has shirked its responsibility. Or has played pass the buck and pointed the finger at the U.S. Government.

Now the good news. My company has seen a solid rebound in new job requests from the lackluster first half of the year. It appears that our clients have turned on the marketing faucets again and job orders are steadily coming back in. We noticed a big up-tick in June and it's been steady so far through July and August. I'm crossing my fingers that it gains momentum through the rest of 2010 and into next year. Though I must say I'm cautiously optimistic - there's a lot of chatter from the financial sector about lukewarm forcasts and weak job growth projections. And slow sales growth in the housing market.

I hope my next post sometime in the 4th quarter has more good news. Maybe it'll be titled The Autumn of Good News/Good News. And maybe some of us small businesses will hold on through the worst of it. We've made it this far.