Bill Myers - June 14, 2008

Seems like you can't turn on the news or pick up the paper these days without being bombarded by messages of doom and gloom.

High gas prices. Floods, famines, heat waves, foods that make you sick.

Its almost like the news media is in a never ending race to tell us why life is no longer worth living.

But of course, the news media are usually wrong.

Things are rarely as bad as they make it sound.

Still, all this talk of doom and gloom does have an effect on consumers.

They cut back on spending, change their priorities, and more and more, just stop reading the paper or listening to the news.

As a product developer who has been in business through many serious economic downturns, I can tell you one thing for sure.

When it comes to products, doom & gloom doesn't sell.

What sells are products that offer hope.

Hope that through the use of a product, things will be better. For the customer, for their family, and for the world.

If you want to do well when consumers are worried about the future, create and sell products that offer hope.

Because that's what consumers want.

Hope.