Send $1 via PayPal, then email your most pressing questions about marketing to dina@wordfeeder.com today.
Marketing
During a Recession?
In January of 2008, a poll administered by Fortune Magazine found that 4 out of 5 Americans were concerned that the U.S. would soon be or already is plunging into an economic recession. On the surface, this *sounds* like a grave situation. But no matter what the economy is doing or what the headlines are saying, the fact still remains: you've got a company to run and clients to serve. Will the economic downturn affect your business? That all depends on how successfully you navigate the change.
Business as usual, for many Americans, means finding creative ways to meet the needs of our customers. A recession or pending recession demands that you take some time to reevaluate whether your current products and services provide value for your clients, or whether modifications to your business model, your marketing, or both, need to be made.
Is Your Product or Service Counter Cyclical?
The good news is that when recession hits, spending doesn't cease; it just filters through different channels. According to an article titled Four Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make in a Recession by Scott Shane, Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies at Case Western Reserve University, "When customers cut back on their spending, they often substitute one product for another. For instance, in a recession, people might cut back the number of steak dinners that they eat out. But, because they still want to treat themselves, they increase their purchase of cheaper foods, like pasta, making pasta a counter cyclical product."
Another example of this is the rise in outsourced human resource consultant jobs that's been predicted as a direct result of corporate downsizing. Regardless of economic conditions, companies still need to manage key aspects of doing business. In 2008, they're searching for solutions that will allow them to retain or even improve their level of quality while reducing overhead costs.
For businesses both large and small, this clearly this points to a shift in consumer attitudes and perceptions, which in turn affects spending habits. If you plan to continue selling to them, it's a smart idea to be concerned about the wants and needs of your clients. Are they the same as they were last year? If not, what's changed? What will they be searching for tomorrow and how can you fill that need?
Economy on the Downturn, Your Marketing on the Upswing
Another key point covered in Scott Shane's article: "When unemployment rises, people start businesses because their opportunity cost of doing so goes down, further increasing competition. So the need to have a competitive advantage is even more important in a recession than in a booming economy."
In marketing, a competitive advantage starts with knowing your ideal customer intimately. In other words: now is a great time to analyze or reanalyze your target market. Large corporations such as Disney, Verizon and many others constantly tap into the wants and needs of their clientele. They do this by putting out customer satisfaction surveys. The findings obtained via these surveys are then used to develop new products and client solutions or modify existing ones.
How to Create Demand for Your Product
The best way to create demand for what you're selling is to figure out what the customer wants and then provide that. For a web based business owner, it's easy and inexpensive to conduct surveys of your target market and existing customer base. Websites like http://SurveyMonkey.com offer multiple membership levels that allow you to enter survey information right into their forms and then distribute them to your readers via a link in your blog, newsletter or other means. You can also elect to hold market focus groups via websites like the Ryze Business Network or via online conference rooms such as those at Voxwire.com.
You can also conduct market surveys and focus groups the old-fashioned way; by phone, via business reply mail, or in person. No matter which option you select for your business, the important thing is to find out what your customers are searching for and then work toward satisfying that need.
Wordfeeder.com serves many small business consultants and coaches with an array of copywriting and marketing services.
To take our Small Business Survey and learn more about the coaching and small business audience and their needs, click here.
Copyright 2008 Dina Giolitto, Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing. All rights reserved.
Go to the page where we list all copywriting and marketing articles
Want more? Sign up for Word Food, our Copywriting and Marketing Newsletter.
get a copywriting or website marketing quote
Thanks for visiting Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing. If you're interested in a copywriting, web design or web marketing quote, please include project details such as:
-
Type of Project (web copy, sales letter, articles, etc.)
-
General Project Details (target audience, product, etc.)
-
Number of Pages
-
Links to Previous Ads
-
Links to Competitor Ads Whom You'd Like to Emulate (or not emulate!)
-
Anticipated Due Date
Please email to Dina@Wordfeeder.com with the subjectline "Copywriting Quote".
Need a referral for a web designer, virtual assistant or search engine optimization expert? Just say the word! We work with only the best service providers.
Thanks!
More Copywriting Articles
Recently Added Articles:
How Do You Market Coaching Services During a Sluggish Economy?
The Trick to Getting Your Newsletter Read and Bringing in New Business Each Month
2009 and Prior - Listed in Alphabetical Order:
10 Simple Ways to Punch Up Your Copy, Redirect Your Website Traffic and Dramatically Increase Sales
11 Reasons Not to Hire a Freelance Copywriter (and Why They're All Poor Excuses)
11 Ways to Caffeinate Your Copy: Give it More Juice, Get More SALES
13 Ways a Copywriter Will Kick-start Your Marketing
5 Critical Aspects of Website Design that Can Lessen the Impact of Your Copywriting
5 Ways Web Copy is Different From Print
7 Quark Express Tricks Every Copywriter Should Know About
7 Points of Contact in Your Marketing Copy
9 Things a Copywriter Can Do to Successfully Capture the Brand
Accelerate Your Freelance Copywriting Career
Analogy Marketing: How to Think Like the Web's Top Paid Professionals
Are Your Keywords Making You Sound Less Intelligent?
Articles and Branding: 5 Steps to Success
Article Marketing Online: The Real Reason Why Shorter is Better for Your Web Traffic
Article Marketing Submissions Sites
Article Marketing: the Better Offpage SEO Solution
Article Marketing: Work It On the Diagonal So You Can Go Vertical (from our ezine)
Article Writing: 5 Tips on How to Pull and Hold the Reader
Article Writing Dos and Don'ts
Article Writing Service from Wordfeeder: Get Noticed in Your Niche
Article Marketing: What is it and How Can I Use it to Grow My Business?
Articles: The Perfect Branding Tool
Bad Copy, Good Copy: A Show-By-Example Guide to Writing Stronger Web Content
Branding to Multiple Audiences: How to Retool Your Existing Content
Business Blogger: Are You Competing for Traffic... With Yourself?
Copywriters and Blog Marketing: What Can You Farm Out Today
Copywriting and Branding Exercise: Determining Your Company Mission and Values
Copywriting and Marketing: 5 Ways to Get the Word Out About Your Website
Copywriting and Marketing Resources
Copywriting: Drafting Rules for Professionals
Copywriting for Astrology, Tarot and the Mystic Audience
Copywriting: How to Become a True Authority on the Web
Copywriting: How to Write a Tagline for Your Company
Copywriting: How Different Should Your Brochure Be from Your Website Content?
Copywriting Tip: How to Keep All Eyes Riveted on Your Sales Letter
Copywriting to the Rescue: How to Connect Deeply With Your Readers to Get More Sales
Copywriting Tricks: Mastering the Voice
Copywriting: Why It's Better to Write the Homepage Last
Direct Mail Copywriting Tip: How to Tackle Your First Postcard Campaign
Does Your Sales Letter "Smoke" Your Product? How to Tell if You Need to Tone Down Your Sales Copy
Editing and Writing Tips that Will Have Your Book or E-book Flying off the Shelves
Email Newsletter Process: Critical First Steps
Email Newsletters: Your Most Pressing Questions Answered
Google and Your Article Marketing: Shifting the Focus Back to Ezines Again?
Headline Writing Styles: Have You Been Told the Rules?
How Does a Copywriter Blog for Someone Else?
How to Add "Awesome" to Your Testimonials
How to be Colloquial in Your Copywriting
How to Create an Aggressive Article Campaign That Gets Results Without Breaking the Bank
How to Create a Press Kit that Attracts Positive Media Attention
How to Create a Web Page That Gets Instant Targeted Traffic
How to Leverage Your Existing Content for the Most Exposure
How to Put Your Marketing on Autopilot And Get the Most Bang for Your Advertising Buck
How to Tell if Your Sales Letter is Too Long
How to Write a Web Article in Record Time
How to Write a Tagline for Your Company
How to Write Copy that Keeps Readers Riveted on You and What You Do
How to Write Headlines That Beg to be Read (from our ezine)
Keyword Copywriting: the Key to Your Success
Leverage the Power of Article Marketing
Marketing Your Business with Articles: What You Should Know
Monthly Article Marketing - the Ongoing Process
Mouth Watering Copywriting: How to Paint Pictures With Words
One from the Copywriter's Bag Of Tricks: Back Your Claims With Numerical Data
Pacing and Leading Your Copywriting Assignments
Pain, Pleasure, Persuasive Copy and Your Ego (from our ezine)
Power Writing 101: Tips and Tricks to Get You Taken Seriously!
Sales Letter Copywriting and Logistics: the Method Behind the Madness
Special Report: 10 Best Places to Showcase Your Web Articles (from our ezine)
Split Testing With Your Sales Letter (ezine issue)
Tagline Writing Tips and Tricks
The Formula for Writing a Sales Letter
The Long Sales Letter: Should You Use it In Your Advertising?
The Web Copy Facelift in Ten Simple Steps
Too Much Build-Up: Over-Zealous Ad Copy Can Break The Sale
Top 7 Tips for an Organically Grown Subscriber List
Web Copywriter or Virtual Assistant: Who Should You Hire?
What a Web Copywriter Can Do for Your Business that a Freelance Writer Can't
What is Copywriting and Why do You Need it for Your Business?Around
Why Your Info Product Isn't Selling and What You Can Do About It
Web Copywriting: How to Make Short Articles from Long Ones
What is Copywriting? The Basics of the Trade
What Makes Web Press Releases Different from Traditional Ones?
Why Your Info Product Isn't Selling and What You Can Do About It
Wordfeeder Ebook Editing Services
Wordfeeder Email Newsletter Service: Connect With Your Future Customers
Thank you for your donations to keep Wordfeeder going!
Copywriting, Marketing and Small Business Resources
Email Marketing, Newsletter Management: We recommend and use Aweber.com
Email Marketing and Shopping Cart in One: We recommend Kickstart Cart
Low-Cost Shopping Cart Integrated with PayPal: We recommend and use E-Junkie.com
Sign up for our Online Business Discussion Forum! Membership is FREE.
home about what is copywriting copywriting services copywriting projects web design web copywriting copy editing email newsletter management blog content article writing sales letter content direct mail copywriting branding campaigns postcard marketing ebook editing SEO critiques social media profiles resume writing press release writing copywriting for coaches copywriting for web designers copywriting for real estate food writing small business marketing corporate copywriting clients testimonials copywriting newsletter archive sign up for our newsletter contact us blog
Copyright 2009-2013 Dina Giolitto and Wordfeeder Copywriting and Marketing. All rights reserved worldwide.