I am sure that many small business owners, inventors, entrepreneurs, as well as U.S. citizens, have watched in horror and amazement at the incompetence, arrogance, and incomprehensibly futile attempts by Congress to right our ship financially.
The “fiscal cliff” bill that was approved in the Senate, then sent to the House, is a temporary patch to mollify an angry public. Pundits applauded the ability to “get it done”, and claimed that they staved off raising taxes on 98% of Americans. What they did not mention is that in reality, taxes go up for over 77% of Americans……every American that gets a paycheck. The brutal reality is that payroll taxes are rising and everyone who receives a paycheck will receive less in it starting this week.
And it is far from done. The real negotiations on the debt crisis will now begin, as the root of the problem has not even been addressed. There is much pain to come and if we hate Congress now, just wait and see what is next.
What does this mean for the DRTV industry vis a vis response rates and sales of products and services? No one can say for sure, but I am starting the year off with a sense of optimism and hoping that with less money in everyone’s pocket, folks will seek out alternative solutions to every day problems and perhaps be even more open to spend money to save money. This would bode quite well for health and beauty items, household improvement items, and the like, but entertainment items, non profit solicitations and collectibles may not fare as well since discretionary funds will be problematic.
The DRTV business has seen it’s share of challenges these past couple of years, with the economic downturn, the overly aggressive regulatory environment, and past difficulty with credit card processors. There is no doubt that the challenges will prove to be difficult in the months ahead. However, I applaud the intellect, drive, passion, creativity and entrepreneurial spirit that lives in marketers, vendors, consultants and producers in the DRTV industry, who are some of the smartest and most interesting folks that I have ever met in my long life. If any industry has a chance of thriving, it is this one.
Perhaps if there were some DRTV professionals in Washington instead of many in Congress, we would not have been in this mess in the first place.
Here’s to figuring it all out together in 2013 for a robust, profitable and exciting ride on the DRTV rollercoaster. All aboard!
Posted by avaseavey 
