It has been a few months before we as a Nation finally decided that a recessionary economy is well and truly upon us. For small business owners like us, recession is a pretty complicated concept. To understand the term recession we will have to understand that the health of the economy of countries is basically decided on the yearly growth of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product). Recession is said to occur when the Gross Domestic Product of a country shows negative growth. In other words, the GDP recedes and therefore the economy of a country is said to be in recession.

In a recessionary environment there is a cascading effect of negative events. The recession in the United States was triggered because of the sudden shrinkage in the real estate market. People were rendered homeless and this has a negative effect on small business owners like you and me. If you are wondering how, then the simple answer is that we cater to a limited geographical area and therefore are the most affected when people of a certain community are facing economic difficulties.

So it is understandable if you are angry with the bigger businesses, especially the investment banks and other financial institutions, for bringing about this grim economic environment upon our country and us. It is hard to deny our families the pleasure of a vacation or postpone buying the new car or truck that you have been hoping to get this year. But as business owners we have to put all the negative emotions behind us and concentrate on surviving through these bad times by keeping our businesses viable and ready to grow once the general economic environment perks up (yes, good times will be upon us sooner rather than later).

Increasing your ad spend is probably a good thing to do in a recessionary environment. I do not mean that you should go on a no-holds barred media blitz; this would be foolish to do and more importantly you would find it difficult to get the money for such an ostentatious campaign. I can also understand your concerns of a decrease in the number of outstanding orders, concerns of business liquidity, the need to keep spending in check so that you can ramp up quickly when the economy improves and so on. What I am instead suggesting is that you make each dollar that you spend on advertising work very hard for you.

Now that I have got your interest, let me explain my idea in detail. The basic idea in a tough business environment is to prune down expenses to the maximum extent possible. This is why some business concerns are laying off people, some others are asked to take a pay cut and so on. Similarly, when you think of ad spends, cut down unproductive media exposure after a thorough analysis of your media campaigns for the past one or two years. Marketing experts recommend that you look towards online advertising to get maximum value for your money. Online media is highly accountable and do not require you to give a fixed commitment to run your ads. You need pay only for the clicks (views in case of video ads) that your ad draws from all the unique visitors to the websites. Other than ads in websites, you can also consider placing your business listing in online city directories.

Increasing ad spend is not a definite cure for surviving in these tough times. If you operate your ad campaigns in a rational manner, your business stands a better chance not only sailing through the recession but also will be in a good position to consolidate and grow once the economy recovers.

This article was written by Birgit Rickert of Results Marketing and The Video City Directories, and may not be copied, reproduced or altered without prior consent.