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Is it a definite recession? The American economy is obviously suffering downturns which have already begun to mean layoffs and which forecast many more job losses. If you are a small business owner – and currently 14 million American businesses are listed in Dun & Bradstreet’s Selectory.com– you can throw your hands in the air and determine to wait out this financial crisis without spending another nickel on marketing; or you can seize the day and try a course that is not as obvious.

Separate yourself from the herd so that you have the potential to become the leader of the pack. That’s “zigging” while everyone else is “zagging”. To zigzag according to Webster’s is a line or course that proceeds by sharp turns in alternating directions. In this instance, we are suggesting that more than in a regular economy, you try original approaches in addition to the obvious ones to keep your business on track.

When you pitch a seminar get-together on marketing or try to teach social media and its effects in August, one of the two worst months of the year for getting a meeting together, you are zigging. Everyone else is planning a vacation.

Zig again when you advertise real estate in New York on Thanksgiving Day. Your real estate company advises you that all but the devil has a date with their family on that day and that you are wasting your money. Still, the real pros do it. They hope that they find one person looking for that multimillion dollar apartment and they will be the only agent on duty. Finding the rare client is worth the risk of the cost of the ad.

Try using an advertorial type of newspaper service to call attention to your web site. The old-fashioned mat feature that corporations have been using for more than 50 years is really not out of style, it’s just not the flavor of the month. Check the internet for Free Article Content. People still read their local papers – even if there are fewer of them – so find a service that approaches both newspapers and the internet with your “canned” feature, one that you help write, and your marketing message will be seen by different viewers. Invest in a statistical graphic or eye-catching illustration, and you have a second shot at being picked up widely.

Test all options with an eye to cost and efficiency and track their ROI to compare the impact on your business. After all, the Internet constantly has tales of how some of the giants began, and what was said early on about some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world. One recent tale was about Sam Walton who was told he didn’t have the finesse to deal with the consumer.

The only sure sign of failure, especially in a recession, is not to try anything to increase awareness of the service or product you sell.

A PR expert with more than 15 years of experience with some of the largest PR firms in the world as well as famed corporate companies like Avon Products, Myrna Greenhut heads up Points of Persuasion Syndicate http://www.p-o-p-s.com While the Internet has levelled the playing field for large corporations and small businesses, one of the most effective uses for newspaper type features is to call attention to your small business web site in a truly cost-efficient manner. For a free tip sheet on ideas to make mat features like the pros, visit http://www.p-o-p-s.com/feedback and type Octopus in the Comment Box.