If you turn on your television, open up the newspaper, listen to the radio or browse some of the major news site – the dreaded “R” word (recession) is almost certain to be crammed down your throat!

So what are you doing about it? Have you stopped spending… stopped moving forward… because you’re convinced that everyone else has too?

Or are you going to look the tiger in the eye and attack him with all your might?

Here’s my thoughts on the recession: The economy is like a stream. Sometimes the tide runs in the direction you’re heading. So everything is easy. In fact, you don’t even need a paddle to achieve your goals. Just sit in the boat and you’ll get to the bottom of the river.

But then the tide turns…

All of a sudden it becomes obvious that if you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’re going to go backwards.

So what’s the solution?

Paddle Harder. Paddle Faster. Do more of the things that work.

Or perhaps change your approach altogether and find a new strategy – give your friend a call and ask him to bring his speedboat down to the river.

Of course, things are tougher. But if you work harder… work smarter… and get the right vehicle… I believe it’s truly possible to earn more in the recession than you did in the boom.

Ok, here’s how you can move from the row boat to the speed boat:

1.Market to the people who aren’t affected by the recession: change your business model or set up a direct marketing campaign which goes to the rich people and companies that are going to be least affected in tough times.

2.Improve your advertising: Most advertising is pathetically weak. If you’ve noticed a 30% drop in business, simply improving the copy in your advertisements could cause you to be doing better despite the slow economy.

3.Address the recession upfront in your marketing: Have a sale because you’re trying to help people cope with the recession and figure that if the cost of food, petrol and mortgages is rising so much… you’ve got to help offset it by offering some substantial savings. Your customers will love you for it!

4.Contact your existing customers: That’s right. It’s five times easier to sell to an existing customer than to create a new one. So send out letters or jump on the phone to your existing customers and pay them a “how’s things” call

5.Study marketing: If you’ve got some spare time, use it to soak in and study more information about marketing and business. After all, just learning a few new tricks could make you that much richer in the months ahead.

6.Do joint ventures: Find other business owners who have similar clients to you and recommend each other. It costs you virtually nothing and is probably the most effective and profitable method of promoting your business.

7.Apply the power of 10: Contact 10 times as many new prospects. Follow up 10 times as many existing customers. Make 10 times as many “touches” with your client base.

8.Measure everything: Make every ad… every marketing campaign… and everything you do 100% accountable. If something is working for you and profitable, run it more. If an advertisement or marketing campaign is losing you money, get rid of it quickly.

In closing, remember that your competitors are going to PANIC and SCRAMBLE and this represents an enormous opportunity for anybody who holds their ground and finds the speedboat they need to get ahead despite the turning tide.

So what is that speedboat? The metaphorical speed boat is more effective marketing campaigns and stronger copy so you get more leverage from everything you do. If you need any help in finding your speed boat and getting the leverage you need, then click here. And if you have any other ideas or strategies you’d like to share on how to thrive in tough economic times? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

About the Author

Scott Bywater is a professional direct mail and direct response copywriter, and the author of Cash Flow Advertising. To receive a complimentary copy of his exclusive report ‘7 Ways To Boost Your Turnover… No Matter What The Economy’ (valued at $29.95) hop along to his web site at: http://www.copywritingthatsells.com.au

Recently, I pulled out a copy of my book from the winner of Donald Trump’s Apprentice, Bill Rancic.

Now on page 111 of Bill’s book, You’re Hired, he talks about his cigar business and how he had built the business up through radio advertising.

However, when the sudden flush of dot-com advertisers came into the marketplace , advertising rates skyrocketed. Because of course, the rates were all based on supply and demand. The more demand – the higher the prices went.

Of course, that was great for the radio station, but not good for Bill’s business.

Now to cut a long story short, it was no longer viable for him to advertise. And he had to change his entire business operation.

Through some smart thinking, they moved the way they did business from mail order to on-premise sales.

However, it’s a very tough situation to end up in. And it could happen to any business that relies on one advertising strategy.

For instance:

- If you get most of your business from the internet: what happens when advertising rates rise? Or when it’s not so easy to get high search engine rankings? Or when pay per click rates go beyond an affordable price?

- If you send out heaps of email, what happens if the government starts charging for email?

- If you use fax streaming to generate leads, what happens if the government brings in rules which makes this marketing strategy illegal?

- If you rely on the Yellow Pages, have you ever considered the fact it could become less and less effective as people move online rather than relying on the book?

- If you rely on telemarketing to generate leads, what if the government outlaws it at some time in the future?

- What if your television advertising rates double?

My point is this. If you rely on one of anything, you are leaving yourself in an exposed position. Imagine building a house which balances on one pole. If that pole gets weak, down goes your house.

And it’s the same with your business.

Think ahead. Test a variety of lead generation strategies…

-Yellow pages
-Newspaper
-Fax streaming
-Internet
-Television
-Direct mail
-Radio
-Joint Ventures
-Referral Programs
-Seminars
-Database marketing

And anything else you can think of. That way… if the laws change… if the advertising rates go up… if all of a sudden one specific strategy stops working as well as it used to…

Your business will be safe.

And you are the one that has the power because you are not reliant on any particular advertising strategy.

Right now, write down the strategies you currently use to generate business. And then write down a few other ideas you can test, so you have 5 strategies to draw people into your business.

And let me know how you go…