Making Money in an Economic Recession

"Successful businesses manage change by always looking for opportunity in the midst of crisis," More Money Made in Slowdowns" ActionCOACH Marketing Director Jodie Shaw said. "More money has been made in slowdowns than is ever made in a boom, and that is a result of companies and entrepreneurs getting focused on their strengths and providing added value to their customers. Employees need to look at their careers in the same way."

Get out your crystal ball and tarot cards! According to some business guru's, that's your ticket to making money during this ... recession? depression? meltdown? ... not sure what word the media is using this week to spin their views, but I think you know what I mean.

Appealing to the Pocketbook

Amazingly enough, the economic downturn is providing unique opportunities for small and new businesses on the internet. Recent studies have shown an incredible surge of traffic directed to consumer websites that are helping buyers find good deals and discounted services during this "tight" 2008 Christmas season. There are also many new websites popping up to help people track their finances as well as guide people with all of their budgeting and spending concerns - not only for the Christmas season, but for 2009 and beyond.

Deep Discounts

It's fair to say that consumers are looking for deals this season, especially online. Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving, is gaining in popularity to become the biggest online shopping day of the year. According to a Reuters report, Cyber Monday traffic increased 26% in 2007 as compared to 2006, so what might 2008 hold for this expanding trend in bargain shopping? I guess we'll see tomorrow - but my guess is that business websites offering deep discounts to online shoppers, are going to be making some serious money by the end of the day. I would even go so far to say that online spending will outperform in-store sales by a landslide. We'll see how well that crystal ball is working when the complete statistics come out in January!

Back to the Boomers

Retailers in the past five years have been targeting younger shoppers because of their plastic-happy ways. This is definitely a trend of the past. Marketers, as well as society in general, have gained a new respect of Baby Boomers and their spend-thrifty habits. Research is showing a dramatic decrease in consumer credit scores for people under the age of 40.

Change and Flexibility

Unless you're absolutely blind, you can see that businesses everywhere are having to change their marketing strategies and provide more flexibility to their customers. Long-gone are the days of care-free spending and the booming bull market. To take advantage of the opportunities of 2009, businesses are going to have change in order to end up on the black side of the ledger sheets. Don't ever underestimate the power of the consumer, they are not stupid - and gimmicky slogans aren't going to cut it this year. It's time to sit down and really analyze your business and figure out whether you are one of those businesses that is going to boom or bust this year. Either way, you're probably going to have to tweak something in order to get in the game and stay in it for it this long and winding economic crisis.

Tara Deck
http://gossimer.com