We all know the economy is flaky right now.  Everyone's talking about it, everyone's worried about it, and the media won't stop babbling about it.  Everyone is tightening their belts right now in some way, and businesses are looking for ways to cut costs.  But is now really the the right time to be slashing your advertising budget?  Actually, it might not be the greatest idea right now.  Tough times may actually provide you the best opportunity to reach out to your clients with little or no competition!  Think about it - your competitors are cutting costs right now to attempt to save money, and no one is advertising in your market  If you want your business to survive the economic downturn and lay the groundwork to thrive when the economy improves, now is the time to advertise.

During good times everyone has the money (and bravery) to seek out clients, creating an atmosphere of extreme competition where reaching the consumer with your message proves to be exceedingly difficult. NOW is the time to have faith in your product or service, to reach out to your clients and to secure your success now and into the future. Read on to learn about easy and cost effective ways of doing so.

There are some simple things that you can do.
Everyone knows about the internet, but did you know there are FREE ways to get exposure on the internet?  And they are easy!  You can write an article about your industry, or a product, and submit it to one of the many sites that accept them.  At the end of your article, mention your business and have a link to your website.  Each site has its guidelines on how the articles are to be written, so make sure to follow them.  This will help establish you as a leader in your industry as long as the information you share is helpful and not entirely self-promoting.

Guerilla marketing is great in slow time.  Have some brochures or door hangers made.  During your slow time, have your employees go to a busy area and hand them out.  Now you are putting your message directly into the hands of prospective clients.  Make sure you have an attractive offer that will entice people to visit your business – a call to action.

Guerilla marketing works well online.  With blogs and social networking sites, there are opportunities to market your business in a different setting.  You can set up an account with a social networking site.  This will give out more information about your business and connect you with other businesses to network.  You can create blogs and check the response you get from each entry which can help you check what the market is interested in at any given time.  You can also find blogs that have an issue your company can help with - respond to that blog with your company information.

Cross promote with other businesses.  If you're feeling the pinch of the economy, most likely other businesses in your area/industry are feeling it as well.  Find other businesses that don't compete with yours and see about exchanging some flyers or a banner promoting each other's business.  If your business is online, do a link exchange with other businesses.  Be careful and don't overdo the link exchange or Google may lower your organic search results.  Be selective in who you work with both online and in the brick and mortar world.

Press Releases can be a very effective way to bring attention to your business.  If you have something that impacts the community, then you can have someone write a press release for you.  If you hire someone to do it for you, make sure they know how to write and distribute it.  Remember the topic must be something that impacts the community and not just a self-serving piece promoting your business.

These are just some of the ideas that will help your business grow in any economy. There are plenty of marketing options out there.  You just need to find the ones that work for you.  Now loosen the belt a notch, and hit the ground running!