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Things Are Looking Up

With hardly a moment to catch our collective breath after the presidential election — and while we are still exchanging “Did that really just happen?” looks with one another — it’s time to survey the results of the Black November promotional period and look ahead to 2017.

And from what I have seen recently, it’s expected to look pretty darn good.

A recent article on Gordcollins.com, a real estate industry marketing firm, predicted 2017 will see existing-home sales of 6 million to 6.5 million, and that 160,000 new homes will be built each year up to 2024. According to the site, which employed research data from the National Association of Realtors and Forisk Research, among others, U.S. housing starts are on the rise 2017 to 2020.

While single-home new construction spending remains at substantially lower levels than before the boom — 40 percent lower, according to the Wall Street Journal — there is a bright side there too: Spending on repair and remodeling is expected to best $300 billion, higher than the $285 billion in 2007, said the Journal.

Major appliance shipments in 2017, meanwhile, are forecast to increase 4.9 percent over 2016, according to Appliance Design, citing data from Delano Data Insights.

Buying a new home and spending money on appliances and remodeling are good signs for all of us in this industry, whether we’re making products or selling them. As we enter this positive-looking year, taking time to position ourselves for success would be time well spent.

Positivity and visibility may be two ideas, but they are a package deal. All of us — as professionals, individuals and women — have an opportunity to acknowledge the opportunity that is coming in 2017 because things really are looking up. So shake off any residue from the recent socio-political events, and focus on the positive. Get out of the negative space of the wait-and-see attitude and don’t wait-and-see what happens!

Position yourself to harness the momentum that will likely follow these forecasts in the terms of consumer confidence. This means that consumers will be looking for your products, shopping in your stores, and researching your brands. Be there. Light a major fire under your marketing. Boost your branding — for your business as well as yourself. Soup up your social media (again, for your business and yourself), and don’t neglect your networking. Positively light it up.

Positively catapulting your business and yourself into 2017 will beget visibility. Visibility begets awareness, and awareness begets success for a positively positioned brand, business, individual.

The signs are there that things are looking up for 2017. What are you going to do? Choose to be positive, make sure to be visible, and just wait and see what happens!

Leigh Donadieu, senior product line manager at Electrolux Major Appliances, is a member of TWICE’s Women Of Tech advisory board.

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