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- Be a contrarian.
When I worked at Cisco during the tech bust, I noted that those customers who continued to invest were better coming out after the bust. So my advice is, don't follow the trend and stop investing. Rather, do the opposite! Grow rather than shrink.
Typically, in a corporate world, the first things to be cut are technology, training, and people. I believe in being a contrarian in all three of those areas. For example, while some sites are cutting back on content and features, we have created many new resources on StopAfib.org and invested in some important training and travel that were key to our mission. - Farm out small work.
Time is your most precious commodity, so be sure that you're focused on the areas that need you most. For example, I need more time to build sponsor relationships, so some mundane stuff that I normally would have done myself has been delegated to my "virtual assistant" -- a woman in Columbus, Ohio, whom I've never met in real life. She helps me juggle appointments, travel arrangements, and other detail work, like posting items to the website. - Leverage free resources.
PR is much better than advertising, because it's free! Right now, I'm very focused on spreading the word and raising awareness for StopAfib.org, so I'm trading links, sharing traffic, and cross-marketing wherever I can.
I use HARO - Help a Reporter Out, a wonderful resource for reporters, media, and small and large businesses. I have gotten some great coverage that way. I also participate in a variety of social media outlets, like Twitter, to increase my word of mouth. It's a great way to introduce your audience to new content and a great way to get more publicity. - Develop synergy across your organizations and resources.
Once you've figured out a way to get free publicity, try to figure out how you can exploit it across all areas of your business or businesses. As a speaker, educator, and founder of a web site, I find ways to leverage one outlet to another. For example, I might post a long-lasting fact-based piece of content on my website, then post an opinion piece about the same subject on my blog, and cross-promote the two. - Be resilient, not brittle.
In a recession, the messages you hear are "everything's bad." The trick is to ask, "How can I take this time and turn it into an opportunity?" It's like my Dad used to say, "There is nothing that we do or encounter that isn’t going to come around and help us in some way later."
For example, the health issues I faced were very negative. However, I have taken the experience and made it into an opportunity to create a platform where others can communicate and learn about heart health. We can do the same by asking ourselves, "What can I do during a recession that will distinguish me and make me a positive influence on the world?"
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