Note from the Editor

I learned quite a lesson this past week… it’s very, very hard to launch an ebook during flu season when you have small children.

Rather than spending my time on creating my sales page and everything else I had planned for this past week, I spent most of my time dealing with sick kids. Fevers in the 102-103.5 range, plus an ear infection for my daughter. Not the best of working conditions even when you’re determined to run your business.

This ebook is something I’ve been wanting to do for a while. Not in the internet marketing niche or anything. I know pretty much what I want to do with it; it’s just that getting there can be a challenge. But we’re all getting better now and hopefully I won’t have to get antibiotics for anyone else.

Setbacks like this are of course just a part of running a home business. No matter how hard you try, sometimes home life does get directly in the way of your business. But this would have happened even if I worked outside the home. At least I don’t have a boss grumbling about the time I took off… unless you count the part of my mind that nags me constantly.

7 Recession Proof Online Marketing Tips

The dark clouds on the economic horizon seem to be successfully resisting the heroic efforts of the government to stave off the coming storm. The question on the mind of many is - “What Should I Cut and Where Should I Focus My Marketing Investment?”

As in past recessions, the companies that make the right marketing moves, emerge from the economic downturn in a stronger position. Below are 7 Online Marketing Strategies that should have a prominent place in your recession toolkit:

1) Focus on Current Customers: When the economy is good - everyone spends lavishly (not necessarily wisely) on winning new customers. In a recession - businesses should take comfort in the fact that selling to an existing customer is 10-20% less expensive than marketing to a new customer. Recommendation: Time to take a look at your email marketing database and develop a thorough plan for turning these existing customers into profitable repeat customers.

2) Reward Loyalty: This is the time to make sure your current customers keep your business top of mind when they are making some tough purchasing decisions. Dollar for dollar, it makes sense to offer coupons, special offers, and promotions to the loyal customers that are most likely to purchase and “tell others” about your offers.

3) “Fire” Your Banners: When it’s time to trim the fat off your marketing budget, low ROI banners should be first in line. Instead turn your attention on maximizing your investment in more ROI friendly and measurable Pay-Per-Click advertising. Search engine marketing is an excellent Recession-Proof marketing strategy because it allows you to monitor your investment and returns in real-time. Unlike Banners where you need to lock-in to potentially expensive monthly contracts - PPC is a pay-as-you go program with consistent and measurable results.

4) Conversions Take Center Stage: If you cannot tell which online marketing program makes you the most profit, then your program may need a recession-proof makeover. A website that is flooded with traffic but fails to convert is a money-loser - period. With tough times around the corner, make sure you put a plan in place to improve the conversions of your site’s landing pages, email opt-in forms, and shopping cart.

5) Get Ruthless about ROI: If you can’t quickly tell what your Cost Per Lead and Return on Investment is for each of your online marketing channels - then this recession may be tough on your bottom line. You should be able to tell in a glance what marketing channels should be cut and which should receive more investment. If your Digital Agency or in-house team can’t tell you where you are making or losing money - then it may be time to get tough and demand results.

6) Back to Basics: With the whirlwind of activity around new marketing options like Web 2.0, Social Media, Mobile, and others its easy to forget about “little ole” Search Engine Optimization. When marketing dollars are hard to find, you can’t ignore the ROI on FREE search listings.

7) Use Integration To Stretch Your Online Investment: A Recession means that Upper Management will want to see how far they can stretch last year’s budget. The easiest way to stretch your online marketing budget is to integrate separate programs into one cohesive marketing juggernaut. For example, have you considered using your PPC budget to drive email opt-ins for your prospecting database? Same investment, different focus, more profit - Recession Proof Marketing at its best.

See more of Stan Smith’s Quick Marketing Ideas on the Marketing Quickee Blog- http://www.quickmarketingideas.com