The Dow today closed down just over 3.5% wiping out any gains previously recorded in 2011. Today alone, investors witnessed $500 billion being erased off the books. Many in the political and financial arenas say the U.S. and global economies may be inching closer to a second recession.
A recession is a business cycle contraction that includes a general slowdown in the economy. The last recession took place over 18 months from December 2007 through June of 2009. It is still fresh in most business professionals' minds as they struggled to weather the crisis through tough business decisions and in many cases reinventing the way they do business.
Many companies in the indoor air quality (IAQ) and environmental industries were especially hard hit as a significant percentage of their business is related to new construction, property sales and remodeling activities.
Unfortunately, many companies severly cut back on marketing their companies when times get tough. Although this helps with the short term expenses, it often leads to disasterous results later when new business dries up. In addition, companies that suddenly stop appearing before their customers and prospects often make for easy prey for competitors who contiue to market and appear strong and healthy in the consumers eyes.
"What we witnessed in the IAQ and environmental industries were companies that survived and even prospered during the last recession had a willingness to embrace new ways of conducting business and especially new venues for marketing and public relations," reported Paul Cochrane, President of Cochrane Associates and the IAQ Video Network, a leading industry marketing consulting firm. "Some companies didn't make it through the recession, but those that embraced the internet, social media, online videos and other modern marketing techniques found ways to reach customers and prospects while stretching their marketing dollars. We've noticed an increase in the number of inquiries into our marketing and public relations services in the past month as more companies look to position themselves if the second recession materializes. Many of these companies are looking to tighten their budgets by outsourcing more of their marketing to firms such as ours that specialize in doing just that for significant savings," he continued.
If a second recession does materialize make sure every marketing dollar counts and that there are systems in place to measure return on investment. By preparing now and developing resourceful marketing campaigns that utilize all the powerful marketing channels that today exist, can prepare a company for any future economic turmoil that hopefully will not come to fruition.
Cochrane & Associates, LLC, the environmental, mold, HVAC and indoor air quality industries' only dedicated marketing, public relations and business development consulting firm works with clients to develop ways to maximize their marketing efforts and ROI. We also invite you to visit our newest venture, the IAQ Video Network www.IAQTV.com and submit any videos you may have for inclusion on the website.
Contact Cochrane & Associates to learn new ways to grow your business:
info@cochraneassoc.com
www.cochraneassoc.com
602.510.3179
