Jean Gazis Copywriting & Content Development

One of the last pieces of sales collateral I wrote when I worked for Ziff-Davis Central Ad Sales almost ten years ago (!) was about the need for continuous advertising and marketing during slow business periods, headlined Slow Times Call for Fast Action.

Fast forward to the current downturn, and – what do you know? – the very same advice turns up in The Entrepreneurial Mind blog on my Google Reader, linking to a newspaper article titled Don't ease up on marketing in these slow economic times.

I said: "Coasting is no way to win a race. During a period of slow sales, one of the first things you may be tempted to do is cut costs by reducing your advertising budget. It may seem like an obvious move, but it’s the wrong move... you can’t get something by doing nothing. When times are good, advertising is important. And when they’re not so good, it’s essential. A strong marketing program — selling to new customers, expanding into new markets, increasing ad spending — will solidify your customer base, take business away from less aggressive competitors, and position your business for future growth."

He says: "One of the expenses that entrepreneurs are tempted to cut back on is marketing. However, a weak economy is not the time to cut back on communicating with your existing and potential customers... With customers cutting back on their spending, small business owners must fight even more aggressively to maintain their revenues. That is why marketing and advertising become more important than ever."

I still think that was one of my best pieces. It's nice to see that it's as true as ever.

I've been scanning business cards collected from various networking events to get the contact info into a database. I can see why someone might want a two-sided card to put a nice big logo or tagline on the back. But why, why, WHY would anyone design the card so that the actual business name and URL – or worse, their name and title – don't also appear on the front of the card at all? That is just stupid, people!

Effective Marketing Rule #1: Put all the information people want where they can get it easily!

I attended my first Drupal Camp a couple of weekends ago. It was my first experience of the "Bar Camp" concept, and I was very impressed. The way it works is that a mixed group of interested people gets together, from "newbies" to experienced developers, and everyone throws out some ideas of what they'd like to talk about, what they're capable of teaching, and it's all scheduled using a grid of sticky notes on the wall. I believe there was some behind the scenes preparation, but it was all handled very informally - and very effectively.