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Build Yourself A Recession-Proof Program

Issue: 2008dec

One of the unfortunate realities of a recession is that the businesses this industry relies on can often do a number on our numbers.

Were your sales a little flat or even down this year? Are you nervous about what 2009 will mean for your bottom line? If so, industry leaders say there are a number of programs, clients and even products that could rev up your revenue this coming year.

Marsha Londe, CEO of Atlanta, Georgia-based business services provider Tango Partners (UPIC: TangoP) says any product that serves a needed function or is unusual enough that the company using it distinguishes itself from competitors will still sell in lean times.

Additionally, Londe says the groups most likely to seek out promotional products include healthcare, companies with large employee numbers and companies with established safety or similar programs.

"These places may cut back but they don't cut out [marketing] and that's an important distinction to make," she says.

Promotional products salespeople can make their own businesses recession-proof by helping clients figure out the message, objective and recipient of the product.

"Our goal is to find a way to make them use our product instead of print or other media," says Londe. "This is an important medium, and you have to be clear on what you want to accomplish [with it]."

Kathy DeVries of Holland, Michigan-based supplier Walters Seed Company LLC (UPIC: WALTERS) says her company’s offerings are still relevant in times of recession because they speak to one of the world’s oldest and simplest of pasttimes -- gardening -- and also satisfy clients’ sense of frugality.

Seed packets and other gardening-related promotional products are desirable because of their economy, appeal, earth-friendliness and ease of use.

A recent edition of Advertising Age noted some rather, well, interesting markets that seem to be growing because of economic worries, not in spite of them. Canned soup, mouthguards, bankruptcy law and cheap beer round out the publication’s Top 10 list of recession-proof businesses.

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