The Upside Of A Recession: 'The Dumbbells Cut Back... The Smart People Don't'.

The market drops 370 points in a single day, corporate earnings disappoint and housing prices continue to sink.

We are in uncertain economic times. We may be in a recession right now, or could slip into one next week... or next month.

As optimists, we don't like forecasting difficult economic times. But, even optimists have to come to grips with the realities of our uncertain marketplace.

With economic anxiety looming, many of our clients are asking: how should I position and market my firm in the year to come? Assuming yours is a healthy company, here are our general recommendations.

The Cumulative Power Of Marketing

The laws of marketing never change, even in a recession. In fact, if played correctly, they can compound in your favor. Marketing, in any economic environment, is about sustained and integrated activity.

Like the principle of compound interest, a little investment, applied consistently, will pay great dividends down the road. There are of course short term benefits – marketing assists in generating immediate sales – but the real power of your marketing program is cumulative. This cumulative effect drives awareness and ultimately preference in your service so, at the elusive time of need, your prospect thinks of you first.

A sustained marketing effort will help ensure that your pipeline is consistently replenished, leads are properly nurtured, and your market presence is maintained.

The advantages to continuing your marketing in uncertain economic times go far beyond simply maintaining the status quo. The reality is many of your competitors are going to pull back their marketing. As a result, your dollar is going to go further than it is now. Your share of voice will grow. This represents a great opportunity for forward looking firms that are committed to growth because there are still lots of buyers out there.

The Reactionary Response

Many service firms automatically cut expenditures, and marketing is often on top of the list. It's an instinctive response to difficult economic conditions. Almost universally, this response will lead a company to have real trouble in the coming years, recession or no recession.

We can understand why firms think they need to cut back. The sensationalistic media attention given to the economy creates a quiet panic in all of us. We run all sorts of scenarios through our head: clients are going to brace for hard times... they will take longer to make purchases... perhaps they'll even cut service providers. As you think of sales cycles stretching, client retention diminishing, and project size shrinking, you may find yourself looking to cut costs.

Marketing is one of those initial costs that seem easy to reduce. It's hard to measure and you aren't quite sure if it's needed when it's time to hunker down. Why not cut it until things are looking up again? It's easy to justify: "We'll go full force once the market turns, it won't hurt a thing."

The Facts

Study after study demonstrates why this is not wise. Keith Roberts, of PIMS Associates, found firms that increase their marketing spend during a recession actually grow significantly faster than firms that maintain or decrease their marketing spend.1 Additionally, firms that invested more in marketing in a down market realized a 4.3% increase in their ROI. This compared to companies that maintained or cut their level of effort during the two years following a recession.

The study also pointed out that those who increased their marketing efforts during a recession gained market share three times faster in the two years following a recession than businesses that cut their marketing. While service firms don't play the market share game, this does illustrate the cumulative effect of marketing and the opportunity for advancement in a recession.

While the work PIMS did is compelling, it's hardly the only material on the subject:



McGraw Hill found that business to business companies that maintained or increased their marketing during the 1981-82 recession grew during and after the recession at a far greater rate than those who didn't maintain or increase marketing spending.2


The research firm of Meldrum & Fewsmith studied all post World War II recessions and found that advertising aggressively during recessions not only increases sales but it also increases profits, and at a far greater rate than those firms that cut back.3


American Business Media found that maintaining share of mind during an economic downturn directly related to current and future sales and that maintaining share of mind costs much less than rebuilding it after a period of marketing inactivity.4


According to Coopers & Lybrand, marketing during a time of economic difficultly solidifies your client case, portrays you as stable, takes business away from less aggressive competitors and positions your firm well for post recession growth.5
We could go on, but we're sure you get the point – this storyline, and the research behind it, is compelling.

The Silver Lining

As legendry ad man Ed McCabe puts it, "All great enterprises move forward in a recession, and the weaklings move back. The dumbbells cut back...the smart people don't."

Be one of the "smart people." Whether there will be or won't be a recession, maintaining a healthy marketing program will only build on what you have already developed. And maintaining and growing what you have toiled long and hard over requires careful planning, decisive execution, and plain old guts. Now more than ever the money you spend now on marketing matters. Not because dark times loom, but because there is real opportunity out there right now.

Radio Advertising Today

In today's market it is getting tougher and tougher to break thru the clutter. It is more important that ever to have the right professional on each project you do. Check out this radio advertising site to find that professional:


The Right Professional for your Radio Advertising needs, click here

Merchant Circle Reviews

Check out my reviews from Merchant Circle. Business in the East Bay are starting to reap the benefits of "Fike Shway".

If you own a business in Walnut Creek, Concord, Pleasant Hill, Pleasanton, Danville, Orinda, San Ramon, Livermore, Dublin, Alamo, Blackhawk, Brentwood, Pittsburg, Lafayette, Moraga, Tracy, you should check out:

Bay Area Radio Advertising

Useful Radio Advertising Links

The Following is just a small list of links that I use on a daily basis. Feel free to check them out. I would love to hear your feedback.

Useful Links
How To Start A Business
How To Marketing A Business: A fine set of tips on how to market your business.
Top 10 Mistakes of Small Business
How To Advertise Your Business
How To Use Social Networking Sites For Business: Great Blog site on expanding your business using sweat equity.
Which Media Is Right For Your Business: Choosing the right media(s) for advertising can be a hard task. Let the experts guide you through the process with a simple and easy tool.
How To Create A Brand: Creating a long lasting brand is one key to success. This link will explore how this step can be accomplished.
Merchant Circle: Following this useful to link to the Fike Shway page. This is a great tool for small business to have a large impact on your organic search result with yahoo, google, ask, and many other national search engines.
Create A Blog Site Specific To Your Industry: Using blogs to become an expert in your field is a great way to increase your reputation among peers. It is also another way to make money, but be prepared for long hours writting if you plan on making an huge income.
Learn How To Use Myspace To Capture Local Business: Setting up a myspace page can be helpful in capturing local friends who may need your business or service. Learn how I did it here by clicking on this link.
Find Out How To Use ZOOM Info: Another great tool for a small business. Follow this hyperlink for more information on social networking 101.
Ezine Articles are another way to communicate your expertise: A wonderful author grabs some important information about advertising on radio. See if you can find one of her sources.

Bay Area Radio Stations

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   Below you will find a complete list of the local radio stations that you can find on the FM dial. If you plan on using any of the Coast Radio stations, please feel free to consult with me prior to contacting them in regards to radio advertising. I have over a decade of using radio successfully to help clients improve their advertising results.
   
   RADIO WORKS
   
   
   Bay Area Radio Stations
   Callsign Frequency Description Market City / Owner
   KLLC 97.3 Adult Contemporary San Francisco - CBS
   KOHL 89.3 Top 40 Freemont
   KJZY 93.7 Smooth jazz Sebastopol - Redwood Empire Stereocasters
   KFFG 104.5 Classic Rock San Francisco - Cumulus
   KFGY 92.9 Country Station Santa Rosa - Maverick Media
   KZSC 88.1 College UC Santa Cruz
   KQED 88.5 Public Public Radio - Bay Area
   KUSP 88.9 Public Public Radio - Central Coast
   KCEA 89.1 Big Band Atherton - Public Radio
   KSQQ 96.1 Portuguese San Jose - Coyote Communications
   KPFA 89.3 Variety Berkeley - Public
   KMTG 89.3 Variety San Jose - Pioneer High School
   KPOO 89.5 Soul, Jazz, Blues & Oldies San Francisco - Poor People's Radio
   KSMC 89.5 Variety Moraga - St. Mary's College
   KFJC 89.7 Cutting Edge Los Altos - Foothill College
   KUSF 90.3 Alternative San Francisco - University of San Francisco
   KFER 89.9 Religious Santa Cruz - Public
   KSJS 90.5 Urban San Jose - San Jose State University
   KWMR 90.5 Community Radio Point Reyes - Community Radio
   KVHS 90.5 Alternative San Mateo - San Mateo Junior College
   KALX 90.7 School Radio Berkeley - California State Berkeley
   KHRI 90.7 Christian Bay Area - Christian.net
   KCSM 91.1 Community San Mateo - College of San Mateo
   KKUP 91.5 Free Radio Cupertino - Community Radio
   KALW 91.7 Information Radio Bay Area - Local Public Radio
   KLVR 91.9 Christian Music Rocklin - Educational Media Foundation
   KKDV 92.1 Variety 70's,80's, & 90's Walnut Creek - Coast Radio
   KSJO 92.3 Spanish San Jose - Clear Channel
   KTOM 92.7 Hot Country Santa Cruz - Clear Channel
   KNGY 92.7 Pure Dance San Francisco - Flying Bear Media
   KRZZ 93.3 Regional Mexican San Francisco - Clear Channel
   KPFA 94.1 Free Radio Berkeley - Public Radio
   KBAY 94.5 Soft Rock Oakland - InterTech Media
   KYLD 94.9 Urban, Party Music San Francisco, Clear Channel
   KRTY 95.3 Hot Country San Jose - MediaSpan
   KBWF 95.7 Fresh Country San Francisco - Entercom
   KOIT 96.5 Lite Rock San Francisco - Entercom
   KWAV 96.9 Soft Rock Monterey - Private
   KISQ 98.1 Old School, R & B San Francisco - Clear Channel
   KVRV 97.7 Classic Rock Santa Rosa - Maverick Media
   KFOX 98.5 Classic Rock San Francisco - Clear Channel
   KSOL 98.9 Regional Mexican San Francisco - Univision
   KVMQ 99.7 Rhythmic AC San Francisco - CBS
   KBRG 100.3 Recuerdo (Latin Oldies) Bay Area - Private
   KZST 100.1 Adult Contemporary Santa Rosa - Redwood Stereocasters
   KVVZ 100.7 La Kalle San Francisco - Univision
   PCR 87.9 Pirate Radio Bay Area - Unknown
   KXTS 100.9 Hispanic Station Santa Rosa - Private
   KIOI 101.7 Adult Contemporary San Francisco - Clear Channel
   KXFX 101.7 Rock Santa Rosa - Maverick Media
   KDFC 102.1 Classical San Francisco - Bonneville
   KRSH 95.9 Adult Alternative Rock Santa Rosa - Wine Country Radoi
   KNOB 96.7 Classic Rock Santa Rosa - Wine Country Radio
   KKIQ 101.7 Variety 70's, 80's, & 90's Pleasanton - Coast Radio
   KUIC 95.3 Adult Contemporary Vacaville - Coast Radio
   KBLX 102.1 Adult Contemporary, Oldies R & B San Francisco - ICBC Broadcast Holdings
   KSCU 103.3 Eclectic Santa Clara - Santa Clara University
   KKSF 103.7 Smooth Jazz San Francisco - Clear Channel
   KMHX 104.9 HOT Adult Contemporary Santa Rosa - Maverick Media
   KVCH 104.1 Christian South Bay - Private
   KFOG 104.5 Classic Rock San Francisco - Cumulus
   KRPQ 104.9 ???? Santa Rosa - For SALE
   KLDZ 104.9 Modern Rock San Jose - Clear Channel
   KITS 105.3 Modern Rock - Alternative Blend San Francisco - CBS
   KEMR 105.7 ????? East Bay - Up For Sale
   KMEL 106.1 Urban Contemporary San Francisco - Clear Channel
   KEZR 106.9 Hot Adult Contemporary San Jose - Intertech Media
   KIFR 106.9 FM TALK San Francisco - CBS
   KSAN 107.7 ROCK San Mateo - Cumulus Broadcasting