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	<title>Ng Chong Yang's Blogazine &#187; offline marketing campaigns</title>
	<atom:link href="http://blog.surelyit.com/tag/offline-marketing-campaigns/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://blog.surelyit.com</link>
	<description>A Singapore based blogazine that covers creative Web interactive agency work, Web design, SEO and email marketing</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Fri, 07 May 2010 13:43:21 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	
	<language>en</language>
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		<title>Growing Business During A Recession</title>
		<link>http://blog.surelyit.com/2010/01/08/growing-business-during-a-recession/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.surelyit.com/2010/01/08/growing-business-during-a-recession/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 07 Jan 2010 19:28:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>ExternalContributor </dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Other Views]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[2009 recession]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[anti-recession tactics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[business recession]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[offline marketing campaigns]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[recession]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.surelyit.com/2010/01/08/growing-business-during-a-recession/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Rhonda Abrams at the Hartford Business Journal suggests you remain optimistic about growing business during the downturn. Take this time to get your finances in order, repair your credit and keep a good relationship with your bank or credit union. Market your specialties as &#8220;the outsource source,&#8221; attracting big companies that are looking to pinch [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Rhonda Abrams at the Hartford Business Journal suggests you remain optimistic about growing business during the downturn. Take this time to get your finances in order, repair your credit and keep a good relationship with your bank or credit union. Market your specialties as &#8220;the outsource source,&#8221; attracting big companies that are looking to pinch pennies in-house. If you haven&#8217;t already, add a loyalty program to your marketing campaigns to retain your repeat customers. Ramp-up your e-commerce marketing to allow consumers the option of purchasing directly from your website. Look for &#8220;new channels&#8221; and &#8220;new customers,&#8221; all the while remaining positive and you&#8217;ll weather the storm. That being said, let&#8217;s take a look at a few success stories.</p>
<p>It was the year 2000. Silicon Valley was launching a new high-tech startup everyday. Business parks sprung up and it didn&#8217;t take a rocket scientist to figure out that something transformative was taking place. Meanwhile, two buddies &#8212; Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan &#8212; were making market plans as well&#8230; only theirs had investors laughing, rather than shelling out cash. Even though no one was biting on the concept of neatly-packaged, environmentally-conscious soap and hygiene products, they knew they could appeal to a younger, hipper audience with their products and give giants like Proctor and Gamble a run for their money. For Lowry and Ryan, growing business is about doing it yourself to save precious cash (like mixing soaps in bathtubs and bottling it themselves); it&#8217;s about continuously selling your concept to your vendors and other venture capitalists; it&#8217;s about constantly fundraising. As Ryan says, &#8220;The hungriest wolves hunt best.&#8221;</p>
<p>Google is the epitome of a company that thinks outside the box. With 19,786 full-time employees working in the &#8220;Googleplex&#8221; and more than $21 billion in revenue, it&#8217;s hard to imagine that this internet startup was growing business during the post-dot-com years &#8212; acquiring other small businesses, securing venture capital and working partnerships. Despite the temptation to put up irritating (but money-generating) banner ads on their site, the Google visionaries stuck to their original vision. While other companies were slashing their employee perks, those working in the Googleplex were enjoying limitless snacks, ping pong tournaments, casual dress code, a company recreation area and corporate flex time. By creating innovative marketing campaigns and quickly becoming a respected leader in an under-developed niche, Google became the trusted authority for online searches.</p>
<p>We can compare growing business to the most successful commercial real estate ventures. While many overpriced condos, shopping malls and plazas fall to foreclosure or a state of disuse and disrepair, there is still one type of building that&#8217;s doing quite well. &#8220;Mixed use&#8221; buildings are the way of the future, architects tell us. People crave having all the amenities just steps from where they live, so why not combine living space, hotel space, shopping outlets, service centers (like banks, post offices, hair salons, etc), music clubs, restaurants, movie theaters and fitness centers all into one attractive epicenter? To make this space feel more &#8220;homey,&#8221; developers throw in walking and biking trails, greenery, dog parks, playgrounds, park benches, water features and community meeting centers. Similarly, the best marketing strategies during a recession are ones that make use of all different avenues of advertising (both online and offline marketing) and offer a diverse line of products or services.</p>
<p>Jeremy Larson is a foremost expert in finding <a href="http://www.remedyforacidreflux.com" target='_blank'>acid reflux home remedies</a> field. His work has been extensively published in various online publications in the areas of medications for acid reflux. For more information on the treatment, visit remedyforacidreflux.com.</p>
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		<title>Money Saving Tips</title>
		<link>http://blog.surelyit.com/2010/01/07/money-saving-tips/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.surelyit.com/2010/01/07/money-saving-tips/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 07 Jan 2010 13:03:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>ExternalContributor </dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Other Views]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[2009 recession]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[anti-recession tactics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[business recession]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[offline marketing campaigns]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[recession]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.surelyit.com/2010/01/07/money-saving-tips/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Today&#8217;s news is certainly gloomy, with talks of unemployment, decreasing home values, family business closures and low consumer confidence. Americans are tuning in to shows like Suze Orman, Mad Money and the Clark Howard Show for advice and money saving tips that can help them weather the storm. The silver lining is that there are [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Today&#8217;s news is certainly gloomy, with talks of unemployment, decreasing home values, family business closures and low consumer confidence. Americans are tuning in to shows like Suze Orman, Mad Money and the Clark Howard Show for advice and money saving tips that can help them weather the storm. The silver lining is that there are many areas to save and these strategies will help big spenders get ahead when their situations improve too.</p>
<p>&#8220;Getting organized&#8221; tops the list of money saving tips because, without organization, you can&#8217;t get anywhere. Many consumers end up paying late fees, reactivation charges, interest and penalties all because they missed a due date when their papers got shuffled into a pile. Not surprisingly, &#8220;Getting Organized&#8221; was right up there with &#8220;Losing Weight&#8221; for Top New Year&#8217;s Resolutions in 2009. A quick stop at Office Depot to buy a $30 filing cabinet is a great way to get started. You might want to have hanging files of different bills (credit card, car loan, taxes, utilities, mortgage, etc) and you might want to demarcate a section for &#8220;unpaid bills.&#8221; Next, invest in accounting software like Myelopes, Quicken or Microsoft Money. Why test out your amateur mathematician skills when you can use a computer&#8217;s expert accuracy every time to ensure no mistakes are made on your annual budget? You&#8217;ll find all your financial information is neatly filed and printable for your convenience. These programs can even remind you to pay bills, allow you to check your finances online, track your purchases and lets you know how much you have left to spend in each category based on the initial budget you set up! </p>
<p>The next batch of money saving tips revolves around saving. This realm is much easier said than done and it requires a bit of honesty to proceed. While you may say, &#8220;I don&#8217;t spend that much going out,&#8221; you might need to crunch those numbers to be sure. Even though you feel you &#8220;deserve&#8221; that dinner out, you&#8217;ve got to be realistic about how many times a month you can afford that sort of luxury. Look at your habits. Are you getting enough hours at work? Could your wage be higher? Are you saddled with credit card debt? Are you paying over 38% of your income on your living space? Are your utilities bills higher than your neighbors&#8217;? Are you a compulsive shopper or fast food junkie? Do you spend lavishly on your lover, even when you really don&#8217;t have the money? Look out for these trouble areas.</p>
<p>Some of the best money saving tips come from notoriously frugal families. The Economides Family consists of seven individuals who have somehow managed to live off just $35,000 per year! To save money on food, they meticulously plan out their food menus each week and adhere to the plan. They also cook just a few days a month and freeze everything else for a quick reheat, which costs them $350/month. They believe in hunting down bargains at the store, coupon clipping and negotiating prices, whenever possible. They get their clothes from consignment shops and thrift stores, buy used furniture, cut their own hair and rent free movies from the library. Anything they earn beyond their monthly budget gets divvied up into a house fund (to cover repairs), a fun account (for vacations) and a charity account. The Economides also never use credit cards! While this lifestyle may sound extreme, you may want to check out some of their money tips at www.homeeconomiser.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://video.aol.co.uk/video-detail/rene-lacape/1805449260" target='_blank'>Rene Lacape</a> is a seasoned insurance agent. He has been dealing with both corporate and individual accounts for several years up to the present. If you need him, you can check his website and give him a call. Act now.</p>
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		<title>Anti-Recession Tactics</title>
		<link>http://blog.surelyit.com/2010/01/07/anti-recession-tactics/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.surelyit.com/2010/01/07/anti-recession-tactics/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 06 Jan 2010 21:19:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>ExternalContributor </dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Other Views]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[2009 recession]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[anti-recession tactics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[business recession]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[offline marketing campaigns]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[recession]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.surelyit.com/2010/01/07/anti-recession-tactics/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[GM may very well be the prime example of a company who chose all the wrong anti-recession tactics. Instead of adapting to the new times and emphasizing smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles in customized colors &#8212; they stubbornly pursued their current course of dishing out truck after truck and SUV after SUV. They believed this [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>GM may very well be the prime example of a company who chose all the wrong anti-recession tactics. Instead of adapting to the new times and emphasizing smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles in customized colors &#8212; they stubbornly pursued their current course of dishing out truck after truck and SUV after SUV. They believed this was the true American spirit &#8212; bigger, more rugged and, undeniably, more expensive. The top executives failed to realize that the money market was tightening up for consumers and that this new environmentalism tidal wave was already moving the Toyota Prius and the Honda Civic to the head of the queue. Instead of following the pathway to bankruptcy and bail-outs, here are some smart moves during the recession.</p>
<p>The most important of all anti-recession tactics is to understand the new problems your customers face and offer them innovative solutions. The most successful businesses are ones that can save customers money, make their lives less stressful and offer more value. For instance, one company developed a fast-curing resin to maximize productivity for injection-molding machines; yet, when the recession happened and greater output was no longer needed, the company switched gears and developed a less expensive, slower-curing resin, which was ultimately profitable. &#8220;We can&#8217;t add meat to a burger anymore,&#8221; admits CKE marketing chief Brad Haley, who oversees the Hardee&#8217;s and Carl&#8217;s Jr franchises. When times are tough, executives need to be more creative. He adds, &#8220;Carl&#8217;s Jr. is promoting a guacamole bacon cheeseburger. Avocados are a less expensive topping.&#8221;</p>
<p>One of the anti-recession tactics that many businesses fail to do is to keep investing in the core. One thing you cannot afford to do is let critical components of your business &#8212; like product innovation and customer service &#8212; fall by the wayside. When these dark days are over, you want your company to emerge like a butterfly out of its cocoon; you want people to say, &#8220;Even though the economy&#8217;s doing bad, this company seems to be faring well&#8230; look at all they&#8217;re doing!&#8221; Companies that stagnate now can never compete later. &#8220;We&#8217;re not going to cut innovation,&#8221; Intuit&#8217;s Brad Smith tells CNN Money Magazine. &#8220;This company, for 25 years, has been fueled by new-product innovation. We&#8217;re protecting the innovation pipeline so we come out of this strong.&#8221;</p>
<p>Anti-recession tactics require you to resist temptation, which could be especially hard if you&#8217;re a fast-moving, impulsive, risk-taking sort of person. On a good day, you may have no qualms about acquiring some of your smaller competition that&#8217;s up for grabs, especially if the price is right. Yet, a recession may not be the best time to branch out and acquire new money-sucking extensions. Generally, companies are twice as likely to acquire businesses and merge when the economy is doing well, statistics show. However, there are business moguls like Warren Buffet who believe in being greedy when others are fearful. This could be a great time to absorb smaller companies that are full of fresh talent and skills, but be smart about all the calculated moves you make during an economic downturn.</p>
<p>Jeremy Larson is a foremost expert in the natural <a href="http://www.remedyforacidreflux.com" target='_blank'>acid reflux remedies</a>. He has had extensive experience and conducted countless experiments in finding natural remedy for acid reflux. He is also a highly acclaimed writer in the medical field.</p>
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		<title>Top Internet Business Start-Ups</title>
		<link>http://blog.surelyit.com/2010/01/06/top-internet-business-start-ups/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.surelyit.com/2010/01/06/top-internet-business-start-ups/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 06 Jan 2010 04:21:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>ExternalContributor </dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Other Views]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[2009 recession]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[anti-recession tactics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[business recession]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[offline marketing campaigns]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[recession]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.surelyit.com/2010/01/06/top-internet-business-start-ups/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Making the jump from corporate worker to internet business entrepreneur requires a natural knack for decision making and time management. Pamela Slim, author of Escape From Cubicle Nation, &#8220;Most entrepreneurs go in thinking they just have to go in doing everything themselves, but that just isn&#8217;t true.&#8221; She says small business owners must have a [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Making the jump from corporate worker to internet business entrepreneur requires a natural knack for decision making and time management. Pamela Slim, author of Escape From Cubicle Nation, &#8220;Most entrepreneurs go in thinking they just have to go in doing everything themselves, but that just isn&#8217;t true.&#8221; She says small business owners must have a strong understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. If internet design isn&#8217;t your thing, for instance, you may have to outsource this job to someone else who specializes in this field &#8212; perhaps another independent entrepreneur. Here are some other tips if you&#8217;re considering making the switch to running your own show.</p>
<p>There are many different types of internet business ventures to consider. Some people prefer to go with what they know. Brent Bouchez, David Page and Nancy McNally all worked for top-tier ad agencies before forming their own marketing company targeting consumers 50 and older. Michelle DeAngelis worked at Bank of America for 15 years before branching off to do her own private consulting. By contrast, some internet business entrepreneurs decided to forego their past identities and follow a particular pursuit or passion. Ali Galgano transitioned from a corporate recruiter at Goldman Sachs to a seller of unique costume jewelry. Kelly Elvin went from being a corporate lawyer to a dog trainer. What matters most is that your home based business is something about which you are knowledgeable and passionate.</p>
<p>Working with an internet business from home can be a huge culture shock for some entrepreneurs. First of all, there are no more perks &#8212; paid days off, vacations, automatic raises, corporate credit cards, 401ks, employee luncheons, cushy offices or company cars. Secondly, it can be downright lonely at times if you go from being the head gossiper at the office water cooler to the sole proprietor of a home business. Thirdly, you will need to harness all the self-motivation you can. It&#8217;s much more difficult to get your work done when you can sack out on the couch for a few hours at will or turn on the TV. Lastly, you have to deal with all the accountability. If your marketing campaigns prove to be flops, you have no one to blame but yourself, which can be a tough pill to swallow.</p>
<p>Ray Gaines, entrepreneur and author of Start Your Own Business, says that it usually takes about six months to get an internet business up and running, but it&#8217;s certainly worth the time and effort. &#8220;Surprisingly, a recession can provide opportunities for business startups, particularly as the proverbial green shoots appear and the wheels of industry start to churn again,&#8221; he says. &#8220;When the recovery begins, people and companies start to spend and look for suppliers. Those new businesses that have made their names known through good marketing during the downturn will be noticed.&#8221;</p>
<p>Jeremy Larson is a foremost expert in finding <a href="http://www.remedyforacidreflux.com" target='_blank'>acid reflux remedies</a> field. His work has been extensively published in various online publications in the areas of medications for acid reflux. For more information on the treatment, visit remedyforacidreflux.com.</p>
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		<title>Small Business Recession Tips</title>
		<link>http://blog.surelyit.com/2010/01/04/small-business-recession-tips/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.surelyit.com/2010/01/04/small-business-recession-tips/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 04 Jan 2010 07:58:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>ExternalContributor </dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Other Views]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[2009 recession]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[anti-recession tactics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[business recession]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[offline marketing campaigns]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[recession]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.surelyit.com/2010/01/04/small-business-recession-tips/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The ailing economy has many small business owners reassessing their position within their industries. When every dollar counts, CEOs can no longer throw money at this idea and that; they must focus on what&#8217;s working and correct what&#8217;s not. Stu Richards, CEO of Bredin Business Information, says that 56% of newsletter recipients said they received [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The ailing economy has many small business owners reassessing their position within their industries. When every dollar counts, CEOs can no longer throw money at this idea and that; they must focus on what&#8217;s working and correct what&#8217;s not. Stu Richards, CEO of Bredin Business Information, says that 56% of newsletter recipients said they received information relevant to their industries, so now is a good time to do a little research to find out if you&#8217;re delivering what people want. Similarly, Bob Johnson, VP of IDG Connect, found that only 42% of buyers said that educational and promotional content they received was relevant to their needs. Small business owners need to look at their homepage statistics as well and see if there are any &#8220;conversion killers.&#8221; Read on for more recession tips that can help you reach success in any economy.</p>
<p>At the 2009 MarketingSherpa B2B Marketing Summit, there were several recession tips and recommendations to help small business entrepreneurs weather the storm. The first tip was to &#8220;re-engage old leads.&#8221; According to Brian Carroll, CEO of InTouch, research reveals that 80% of all leads marketers generate are discarded, lost or ignored. Sending your sales team out to find new leads all the time can be a grueling, tiresome practice &#8212; and an expensive one! Instead, you can use marketing newsletters and social networking sites to re-engage and reinvigorate potential contacts. Caroll adds that emailing relevant industry articles to old leads and following up by phone generated a 375% increase in conversions. One marketer said his team achieved a 44% increase in subscribers by offering a news announcement and prize. &#8220;If you want to make a difference in the fourth quarter this year, go back to what you did in the first quarter of this year or the fourth quarter of last year, and there&#8217;s a lot of opportunity there,&#8221; Carroll said.</p>
<p>While you consider these recession tips, it&#8217;s important that you keep your chin up and look for new ways to connect with shoppers. Nearly two-thirds (65%) of online shoppers who &#8220;abandon&#8221; their shopping carts will return in 1-2 days to actually purchase, found security firm McAfee in a recent study. Moreover, their study found that businesses with better brand recognition saw shorter turn around times. Veteran shoppers will buy sooner than newcomers. Merchants selling unique merchandise see quicker turnarounds, compared to highly competitive offerings. Novel products and services that are suspected to be overpriced will sit on the e-shelf for longer as well. Lower priced items also move much more quickly, the study found. Therefore, it&#8217;s important to create your marketing campaigns with these ideas in mind.</p>
<p><a href="http://easyhealtharticles.info/easy/society/index.html" target='_blank'>Rene Lacape</a> is a well trained insurance agent who has been in the industry for so long. Many clients have been satisfied and have been recommending him to others. Check his website so you will know for yourself what goodness of dealing with him is.</p>
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		<title>Small Business Startup Advice</title>
		<link>http://blog.surelyit.com/2010/01/03/small-business-startup-advice/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.surelyit.com/2010/01/03/small-business-startup-advice/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 03 Jan 2010 06:47:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>ExternalContributor </dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Other Views]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[2009 recession]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[anti-recession tactics]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[recession]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.surelyit.com/2010/01/03/small-business-startup-advice/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hindsight is 20/20. There are so many times we wished we would have just asked someone for their business tips and advice. When you&#8217;re starting a small business, you&#8217;ll want to read as much as you can about the process from seasoned veterans who&#8217;ve been there, done that, and lived to tell the tale. One [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hindsight is 20/20. There are so many times we wished we would have just asked someone for their business tips and advice. When you&#8217;re starting a small business, you&#8217;ll want to read as much as you can about the process from seasoned veterans who&#8217;ve been there, done that, and lived to tell the tale. One common theme you&#8217;ll hear time and time again is; get the funds. Regardless of what your idea is or what strategies you hope to employ, the bottom line is that you&#8217;ve got to have money to survive any business plan. Here are some other suggestions from successful recession startups.</p>
<p>Sometimes it&#8217;s hard to predict where you&#8217;ll find your niche, so it&#8217;s a good idea to create a small business startup that encompasses a couple of different areas. For example, Dan Wiley, a 48-year-old first time entrepreneur, started a Los Angeles based firm that provides a range of services from public relations and advertising to branding and internet design. &#8220;I never expected we would be doing as much website designing as we have been, and that so few customers would be looking for our public relations services,&#8221; Wiley admits. His advice to aspiring innovators is to save up a year&#8217;s worth of operating capital to cushion the blow, should things not work out as anticipated. </p>
<p>It can be difficult to start a small business during a recession, when consumers are trying to cut corners. In August of 2008, three friends &#8212; Jonathan Miller (28), Maria Sutanto (27), and Jonathan Kelley (27) launched &#8220;Element Bars,&#8221; custom energy bars with just $50,000 in combined savings. &#8220;We&#8217;re on the wrong side of customers who are trying to trade down,&#8221; says Miller. &#8220;To combat tightening wallets, we&#8217;re trying to do more marketing with coupons.&#8221; He advises to start small and test the demand for your product, leaving yourself room to grow, rather than trying to immediately manage a multi-million-dollar headache.</p>
<p>Sometimes even $500,000 in venture capital funding just isn&#8217;t enough for your small business to achieve what you had hoped. &#8220;Our target audience just [didn't] have the funds to start experimenting with new software,&#8221; said Kimber Lockhart (22), who is marketing a software program that allows users to edit documents within an internet browser, without downloading anything. The only way to survive the early years of your market plans is to have a talented, dedicated team of professionals working with you. She adds, &#8220;In a start-up environment, the people are everything, so get out there and recruit the best.&#8221;</p>
<p>As a leading expert in the field of anxiety disorders and panic attacks, Beth Kaminski is always on the lookout for how to <a href="http://www.anxietydisordercure.com" target='_blank'>panic attacks help</a>. Visit her site for more information on her <a href="http://www.anxietydisordercure.com/articlesdirectory/" target='_blank'>anxiety treatment center</a> and much more.</p>
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		<title>Supporting Businesses</title>
		<link>http://blog.surelyit.com/2009/12/31/supporting-businesses/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.surelyit.com/2009/12/31/supporting-businesses/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 31 Dec 2009 01:09:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>ExternalContributor </dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Other Views]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[2009 recession]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[anti-recession tactics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[business recession]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[offline marketing campaigns]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.surelyit.com/2009/12/31/supporting-businesses/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When you are in your forties or fifties and suddenly find yourself out of a job, what is an experienced professional to do? You hate that feeling of helplessness and insecurity. It&#8217;s horrible to know that your fate was resting in some corporate bureaucrat&#8217;s hands &#8212; and that he could just let you go so [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>When you are in your forties or fifties and suddenly find yourself out of a job, what is an experienced professional to do? You hate that feeling of helplessness and insecurity. It&#8217;s horrible to know that your fate was resting in some corporate bureaucrat&#8217;s hands &#8212; and that he could just let you go so easily, crushing your world. Where will you get health insurance? How will you pay the mortgage or save for the kids&#8217; tuition? Where will you find a new, recession-proof job? It&#8217;s no surprise that many professionals decide to take their years of experience and start up supporting businesses that assist larger corporations in a specific area where they are lacking. If you worked at a law firm, then become a legal consultant. If you worked for an ad agency, start your own! If you wrote for the local news, get into web copy! If you worked as an accountant as a bank, offer your own tax and accounting services independently. Here&#8217;s a guide to some of the startup successes.</p>
<p>Copywriting is one of the supporting businesses available to business owners. Rather than pay an ad executive a $35,000/year salary or a public relations specialist a $44,000 salary, you can hire individual pieces of work from an experienced copywriter for as low as $10/article. Instead of paying for all the administrative tasks like paperwork filing, hourly wages, medical benefits and other expenses, you will simply be paying for the work. Whether you need a newsletter, a blog, a press release, an email, a business letter, a homepage, an internal page or a promotional article, you can count on the research and language skills of a copywriter. Before you hire, be sure that the writer has a college degree and a few samples, however, because all writers are not created equally.</p>
<p>Search engine optimization (SEO) is another area where supporting businesses thrive. Every homepage internet design should have searchable keywords, image tags and web copy that attracts visitors to the site. Professional SEO experts use a variety of analytic programs that let them know what industry-related terms people are looking up, what the most competitive search terms are and what words are best incorporated into a business&#8217;s homepage. By effectively designing your homepage with these factors in mind, your site will become a magnet for web traffic, thus increasing sales. Of course, some webpages have fundamental problems that send prospective clients fleeing. An SEO expert can let you know how many people are visiting, what pages they&#8217;re looking at, how long they&#8217;re browsing, which pages are sending clients elsewhere and where these dissatisfied visitors are going next. This research can be invaluable to a business. </p>
<p>According to a Study by The Kauffman Foundation, these new supporting businesses are crucial to economic recovery during the recession. Job creation and innovation are at the forefront of every successful economy, the study found. &#8220;Seventy-nine percent of Americans say entrepreneurs are critically important to job creation, ranking higher than big business, scientists and government,&#8221; the report stated. It seems that a recession does not have a significant impact on the formation and survival of new businesses as new startups increase.</p>
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