The Small Business Association reports that 4 out of 5 businesses go out of business within the first 2 years.  During a recession, the mortality rate of a new business is even greater.  The primary deficiency among smaller, newer businesses is that owners simply lack the experience and planning skills necessary to stay solvent.  For many, the only business management experience they possess is their own within those pain first 2 years.  But marketing lessons can be learned from others mistakes.  If you pay attention to the right competition, you’ll grab market share of those businesses wearing blinders.

Take inventory of the competition within your market
Start by making a list of your competition.  Include all the businesses that provide a ...

Mail better, not less

Fear of economic turmoil can kill the momentum of any growing business.  The mental distraction alone can be paralyzing to upper management decision making.  Many find themselves tossed between cutting marketing budgets, anticipating the worse is yet to come, and staring at the competition that’s muddling in the same insecurity.

The fact is that businesses must evaluate their previously set goals, and adjust their marketing strategies to meet or exceed these goals.  Those businesses which put their head in the sand and wait out the cyclical nature of the economy will likely miss the opportunity to dramatically increase market share.  Integrated direct mail advertising should be used not only ...

I’ve been getting asked daily about how the direct mail industry is doing, what’s working, what’s not working, and how this economy is affecting which industries more or less.  Though, on average, BB Direct is about 30% busier today (mid December 2008) than we were one year ago, there are some mail service providers who’ve slowed down considerably.  I believe this is partly because we haven’t put our eggs into one basket, but instead, we’ve aligned ourselves with clients who intelligently market to those segments of the business community that do well no matter how our economy is doing.  Yes, we’ve seen an evaporation of mortgage lender mailing opportunities and a big drop in the auto dealership marketing as of late.  But we’...

Seems there’s a lot of finger pointing going on with who’s responsible for the mess on Wall Street and Main Street.  Yesterday I watched on CNN how the over site committee interrogated previous CEO’s of both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.  Given only 5 minutes per chairperson, there was little these gentlemen were able to accomplish other than ask sound bite questions and get sound bite answers.  Not to mention that these former CEO’s are frankly pretty sharp men.  With salaries in excess of $4 million per year, there’s little room for the duller, less fortunate….like some of those doing the interrogating.  Ultimately, the committee members resulted to asking them what must be done.  And in 5 minute sound bites, these former CEO’s ea...

While most industries are tightening their advertising budget during an economic downturn, some business segments prosper and even excel during these times by using direct mail.  While most businesses are bringing in less revenue and tightening their budget, some business industries are earning record profits to recessionary periods.  Marketing and related services like Direct Agencies, Specialized Marketing Firms, Direct Mail Printers, Direct Mail Letter-shops, Mailing List Brokers, and Newspapers can all benefit by focusing on these vertical business segments during recessionary times.  The more direct mail marketers understand these markets, their needs, and the appropriate mailing list audiences to be used, the better they will exceed through the economic cycle.

Below are the categories and industries that, in effect, weather better than businesses in other industries.  These industry types are not all weather proof but more weather resistant than others.  The categories below give you a feel for the logical reasoning of how businesses are affected by our ever changing economy.

Upgrades Can Wait

Products and Services
*  Auto Parts stores
* Uses car dealerships
* Auto repair service
*  Do-it-yourself home improvement

Considerations
Why buy new when you can repair or trade for used and save thousands.  With the current home values so low, it’s virtually impossible to sell without bring cash to closing.  Homeowners stay put if they can, make repa...