11 Time-tested Ways to Dig Out from a Recession
Patrick McFadden • July 2, 2019
For many of you, the Strategy section will be the most indispensable piece of information in this entire post. If you understand and follow this procedure, you can dramatically transform your results and survive in any economy, while bypassing other businesses!
To survive in any economy you must position your business to have the one asset that always wins. That asset is being an expert. You must begin planting that perception seed that you’re an expert . Becoming an expert is frequently the most powerful component to get your business the results, desired. Positioning is the battle for your prospect and customers mind, your marketing is the battle for their wallet. You start with their mind!
If you’re still reading this post, you’re an expert in something. Everybody has a passion, a hobby and a cause. And you’re justifiably proud of your point of view.
Since you’re an expert (about something). What’s your topic?
Before you begin positioning your business as an expert , it is worth understanding the benefits of doing so. I believe there are at least ten:
- If you aren’t an expert, no one cares what you think. I know that sounds rude, but I’m not talking about your friends or social conversations here.
- You will understand your business better. The first step in creating a business that runs efficiently is knowing the subject matter of your business inside and out. Of course, other skills are needed, but it starts here.
- You’ll create great content. The key to creating great content is sharing information or insights that are new to your audience. If you know far more than the audience, this becomes easy.
- Communities will form around you — This one’s simple. Genuine experts attract attention.
- People trust experts — People are more likely to believe your opinion when you know more.
- People will want to buy from you — A deep understanding of your topic makes you more trustworthy, and that makes you the more inviting choice when it comes time to purchase a product or service.
- The media will want to interview you — Both traditional and new media depend on the insight of experts. Being a visible expert on your topic makes you an attractive person for the media to interview.
- Other media will want you to write for them. When you’re recognized for being exceptionally well-informed in your topic opportunities for guest posting on major sites are much easier.
- Growing a social media following is easier — This eventually happens, even if you don’t work at it. People will figure out where your social profiles are and want to connect with you. Of course, this goes much faster if you do work at it.
- Experts make more money — For a business owner, this is the bottom line. People will pay more for your products or services if you are a recognized authority in your topic.
Now that you know the benefits of becoming an expert, let’s look at “how to become one.” These are not all the ways your business can become an expert but these are some of the strategies available, so you can survive in any economy. These strategies work and are very profitable if implemented. (I can testify!)
- Decide You Are. I’m not going to diminish the value of having a lot of knowledge about a particular topic, but don’t fret too long about deciding that you’re an expert. If you decide you are, you are. You are ready to go.
- Have a Focused Topic Area . Become an “expert” at something. It can be growing dandelions, quilting, or the economy, but find your area of expertise – find your “voice.”
- Start with a Field You Know. Research it, read other authors and it will establish you as an expert.
- Read Three Books. Don’t think that to be an expert you need to have a PhD in the subject, or that you need to have ten years formal study in a particular area. So few people are really readers that I tell people if you read three books on any one topic, youʼre an expert in that topic. That’s really what it takes. If you read just 10 minutes a day, you will read an average book a month. Could you change your success in any area if you read 12 books a year? Absolutely!
- Your Website. Your website is a powerful way to start positioning yourself as an expert, especially if your website has a blog.
- Commenting on at Least 3 Blogs Daily. Become known as someone worth listening to on your topic area. You want to establish yourself as an expert and commenting on otherʼs blogs is one of the quickest ways to do that. Donʼt promote your product or website – just make meaningful comments. People will find out who you are and follow you to your site.
- Writing a Book. A book does help to position you as an expert in your field. If you are a consultant, speaker, coach, pastor or trainer, having a book is a valuable tool for establishing your credibility as a person who is an expert.
- Give Away Free Audio mp3s on Your Specialty. Tell people everything you know about achieving success in that area. Giving away valuable content is one of the easiest ways to position yourself as an expert.
- Give Away a Check-List For Success in Your Area of Expertise. Could you make a list of 100 ways to be healthier or etc.? 100 ways to lose weight? 100 ways to increase your spiritual vitality? 100 tips for training your dog in 10 days? 100 ways to be a better speaker? Whatever your area of expertise, you should be able to create a helpful list.
- Join Three Organizations in Your Community. You might choose your local Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club and your townʼs Habitat for Humanity. They donʼt have to be directly connected to your area of interest or expertise. But this will give you visibility and credibility in your community. You can also be a part of national organizations or online associations.
- Create Your Own Social Networking Site. Yes, we all know about Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. The goals may vary but the intention of any social networking site is to connect people with the same interests in some way. If you have a substantial following you may want to create your own social networking site. For example, if you are an expert on horse training you can create a site for other horse lovers. Templates like Ning allow you to launch a site with very little cost.
Know your subject inside and out. Learn how to teach it better and how to help others better than anyone else. You can also be the “behind the scenes” business partner to a powerful authority in your topic. Stop wasting time. Develop the real expertise that creates trust, that benefits your audience, and that builds a profitable business.
**If you have enough interest to still be reading this post, here’s a bonus for you: here.
Question: What’s your favorite benefit of becoming an expert?
Everyone is scaling outputs. Almost no one is scaling judgment.
Ask anyone in tech where AI is headed, and they’ll tell you: “The next leap is reasoning.” “AI needs judgment.” “We need assistants that think, not just answer.” They’re right. But while everyone’s talking about it, almost no one is actually shipping it. So we did. We built Thinking OS™ —a system that doesn’t just help AI answer questions… It helps AI think like a strategist. It helps AI decide like an operator. It helps teams and platforms scale judgment, n ot just generate output. The Theory Isn’t New. The Implementation Is. The idea of layering strategic thinking and judgment into AI isn’t new in theory. The problem is, no one’s been able to implement it effectively at scale. Let’s look at the current landscape. 1. Big Tech Has the Muscle—But Not the Mind OpenAI / ChatGPT ✅ Strength: Best-in-class language generation ❌ Limitation: No built-in judgment or reasoning. You must provide the structure. Otherwise, it follows instructions, not strategy. Google DeepMind / Gemini ✅ Known for advanced decision-making (e.g., AlphaGo) ❌ But only in structured environments like games—not messy, real-world business scenarios. Anthropic (Claude), Meta (LLaMA), Microsoft Copilot ✅ Great at answering questions and following commands ❌ But they’re assistants, not advisors. They won’t reprioritize. They won’t challenge your assumptions. They don’t ask: “Is this the right move?” These tools are powerful—but they don’t think for outcomes the way a strategist or operator would. 2. Who’s Actually Building the Thinking Layer™? This is where it gets interesting—and thin. Startups and Indie Builders Some small teams are quietly: Creating custom GPTs that mimic how experts reason Layering in business context, priorities, and tradeoffs Embedding decision logic so AI can guide, not just execute But these efforts are: Highly manual Difficult to scale Fragmented and experimental Enterprise Experiments A few companies (Salesforce, HubSpot, and others) are exploring more “judgment-aware” AI copilots. These systems can: Flag inconsistencies Recommend next actions Occasionally surface priorities based on internal logic But most of it is still: In early R&D Custom-coded Unproven beyond narrow use cases That’s Why Thinking OS™ Is Different Instead of waiting for a lab to crack it, we built a modular thinking system that installs like infrastructure. Thinking OS™: Captures how real experts reason Embeds judgment into layers AI can use Deploys into tools like ChatGPT or enterprise systems Helps teams think together, consistently, at scale It’s not another assistant. It’s the missing layer that turns outputs into outcomes. So… Is This a New Innovation? Yes—in practice. Everyone says AI needs judgment. But judgment isn’t an idea. It’s a system. It requires: Persistent memory Contextual awareness Tradeoff evaluation Value-based decisions Strategy that evolves with goals Thinking OS™ delivers that. And unlike the R&D experiments in Big Tech, it’s built for: Operators Consultants Platform founders Growth-stage teams that need to scale decision quality, not just content creation If Someone Told You They’ve Built a Thinking + Judgment Layer™… They’ve built something only a handful of people in the world are even attempting. Because this isn’t just AI that speaks fluently. It’s AI that reasons, reflects , and chooses. And in a world that’s drowning in tools, judgment becomes the differentiator. That’s the OS We Built Thinking OS™ is not a prompt pack. It’s not a dashboard. It’s not a glorified chatbot. It’s a decision architecture you can license, embed, or deploy— To help your team, your platform, or your clients think better at scale. We’ve moved past content. We’re building cognition. Let’s talk.
In every era of innovation, there’s a silent bottleneck—something obvious in hindsight, but elusive until the moment it clicks. In today’s AI-driven world, that bottleneck is clear: AI has speed. It has scale. But it doesn’t have judgment . It doesn’t really think . What’s Actually Missing From AI? When experts talk about the “thinking and judgment layer” as the next leap for AI, they’re calling out a hard truth: Modern AI systems are powerful pattern machines. But they’re missing the human layer—the one that reasons, weighs tradeoffs, and makes strategic decisions in context. Let’s break that down: 1. The Thinking Layer = Reasoning with Purpose This layer doesn’t just process inputs— it structures logic. It’s the ability to: Ask the right questions before acting Break down complexity into solvable parts Adjust direction mid-course when reality changes Think beyond “what was asked” to uncover “what really matters” Today’s AI responds. But it rarely reflects. Unless told exactly what to do, it won’t work through problems the way a strategist or operator would. 2. The Judgment Layer = Decision-Making in the Gray Judgment is the ability to: Prioritize what matters most Choose between imperfect options Make decisions when there’s no clear answer Apply values, experience, and vision—not just data It’s why a founder might not pursue a lucrative deal. Why a marketer might ignore the click-through rate. Why a strategist knows when the timing isn’t right. AI doesn’t do this well. Not yet. Because judgment requires more than data—it requires discernment . Why This Is the Bottleneck Holding Back AI AI can write. It can summarize. It can automate. But it still can’t: Diagnose the real problem behind the question Evaluate tradeoffs like a founder or operator would Recommend a path based on context, constraints, and conviction AI today is still reactive. It follows instructions. But it doesn’t lead. It doesn’t guide. It doesn’t own the outcome. And for those building serious systems—whether you’re running a company, launching a platform, or leading a team—this is the wall you eventually hit. That’s Why We Built Thinking OS™ We stopped waiting for AI to learn judgment on its own. Instead, we created a system that embeds it—by design. Thinking OS™ is an installable decision layer that captures how top founders, strategists, and operators think… …and makes that thinking repeatable , scalable , and usable inside teams, tools, and platforms. It’s not a framework. It’s not a chatbot. It’s not another playbook. It’s the layer that knows how to: Think through complex decisions Apply judgment when rules don’t help Guide others —human or AI—toward strategic outcomes This Is the Missing Infrastructure Thinking OS™ isn’t just about better answers. It’s about better thinking—made operational. And that’s what’s been missing in AI, consulting, leadership development, and platform design. If you’re trying to scale expertise, install judgment, or move from tactical to strategic… You don’t need a faster AI. You need a thinking layer that knows what to do—and why. We built it. Let’s talk.
