The newspapers tell you everything is crashing. Television reports speak only of doom and gloom. The stock market reacts to this news and goes up and down like an out of control yo-yo.

Don’t despair. There is something you can do about it.

First, turn off the TV. Don’t buy the newspaper. Turn your car radio from the newstalk station to some relaxing music.

Take a walk and look at things until you’re feeling better and the world doesn’t seem quite so hostile to you and your business.

OK. Now you’re ready to get started.

Let’s look at some facts. Current unemployment is about 7.7% in the hardest hit parts of the country. Stop and think about that for a moment. If that’s true, then that means that 92.3% of the population is still employed!

These people still eat food, wear clothes, drive cars, and even go to the movies.

Despite what the media might want you to believe, all of the money did not disappear overnight. People are still living their lives. Many are still living quite well.

A few days ago, Apple Computer announced its 4th quarter results with a gross margin of 34.7%. This was one of their best quarters in history. A key factor in their success? Sales of the iPhone - one of the most expensive phones available today.

Tiffany & Company, (the world famous jewelry retailer) reported its earnings for the fiscal fourth quarter rose by 40 percent.

United States sales of Maserati sportscars from Italy have hit an all time high.

The point is that while it's true that times are more difficult than they were a year ago for many people, there is still a great deal of money to be made. Historians often forget to mention that many millionaires were made during the Great Depression.

The deciding factor for your business is what you do over the next few months.

The absolutely vital thing to do is to step-up the level of advertising and promotion for your business.

A research study done by McGraw-Hill analyzed 600 companies in 16 different industries in the last major recession (1981-82). Their big finding? Businesses that maintained or increased their advertising averaged significantly higher sales growth. This occurred both during the recession and for the following three years.

Even more impressive, sales of companies that were aggressive recession advertisers rose 256% over those companies that didn’t keep up their advertising.

I know this seems counter-intuitive. When you hear the news, the first reaction is to cut all expenditures, grab your teddy bear and hide under your desk until the recession goes away.

(Even if you were to make it through the recession, with that strategy your business would contract and become a shadow of what it is today.)

It’s time to kick sand in the face of the “sky is falling” media and take your destiny into your own hands.

What’s ironic is that your competitors will actually help you. You see, many of them will cut their budgets, grab their teddy bears and hide under their desks.

This means less advertising competing for your customer’s attention. You may even find that advertising costs fall as the media has to scramble for advertisers.

Right now, your business is swimming against the tide. You need to swim harder or you’ll be swept out to sea. But when the tide shifts and goes your way, not only will things be much easier, but you’ll be miles ahead of your competition.

The three most important things to know about keeping your business growing in tough times are: promote, promote, and be sure to promote.

You may also want to see how you can shift your efforts to a more affluent, recession-resistant market. At Sentium, we work with clients to help them explore those higher-margin options. There are some hands-on, proven techniques for going upscale that I’ll share with you in your next Marketing Rocket Fuel.

Until then shake off the bad news and get moving.
______________________

Ready to kick sand in the face of this whole lousy economy? We can help with marketing that makes sense. Call Sentium at 1 (800) 595-1288 to set-up a no-obligation telephone consultation. It will cost you zero, zip, zilch, nada, but could give you answers that can dramatically boost your sales results.
______________________

Want to learn more? Access the Marketing Rocket Fuel Archive Library
______________________

Reading a borrowed copy? Get your own Free subscription to Marketing Rocket Fuel at www.sentium.com