| If you are worrying about where to cut your budget | | | | to purchase a special service or product that others |
| during these uncertain economic times, then you | | | | do not have access to. |
| almost certainly have had to confront the issue of | | | | - Make promoting you easy and practical. By making |
| letting employees go. While most employers are doing | | | | promotional merchandise available to your customers, |
| their best to avoid having to take this painful step, the | | | | you make it easy and enticing to promote your |
| fact of the matter is that in many businesses, even if | | | | products or services. By simply using their gift from |
| employers are not releasing people who work for | | | | you publicly, your customers begin promoting you to |
| them most are not hiring on new workers. | | | | other people without saying a word. |
| As a result, a company may simply remain operational | | | | - Network aggressively. Use your own personality to |
| at the current level rather than growing as is always | | | | make contact with your current paid employees and |
| an option - even during economic downturns. If you | | | | your unpaid marketing team (your customers). If a |
| would really like to expand your business but cannot | | | | customer feels that you are friends, then they will be |
| see your way clear to hiring new employees, use a | | | | more likely to speak positively about you to others, |
| more budget-friendly approach: recruit people to work | | | | thereby creating a positive buzz about your company |
| for you for free. Using these methods, you can | | | | that can dramatically boost sales. In the long run, a |
| actually make people want to "work" for you by | | | | situation like a recession can actually be the making of |
| spreading the word about your business and services | | | | your company because financial constraints can |
| - basically, giving you free advertising - without charging | | | | compel you to make marketing efforts like these that |
| you a penny. | | | | do not cost much money and that are highly effective |
| - Provide incentives. Reward people who talk about | | | | in the long and short term. Track what works best for |
| what a great job your company is doing. This might | | | | your business and continue the practice even when |
| come in the form of a discount, or even as an option | | | | the economy has recovered. |