Business owners and managers need to remain very flexible right now. When the current economic hysteria recedes, there will be new opportunities for alert marketers to resume growth. Management during a recession must walk a tightrope when cutting costs. For most firms, people are
the largest single expense. Many firms must lay off people when the level of work drops. But, people are also a firm's greatest asset when business picks up again. It is vital for managers to balance cost-saving moves with the need to provide a high level of customer service when activity increases. Firms who recognize the turnaround and gear up quickly will be in the best position to serve existing customers and gain new business from competitors that are slow to respond to the change in buyer's confidence.

One old wit put it this way, "The economy is as confusing as a cross-eyed ping-pong player. The stock market keeps going down and the supermarket keeps going up!"

The housing bubble burst in late 2007 as the sub-prime mortgage problem erupted. That set off a series of other events that impacted our whole financial system. Economic reports indicate that consumers panicked back in September when major Wall Street houses collapsed and the government began to organize huge 'bailout' packages. Economic activity slowed, so the velocity of money in our system dropped to a level not seen since the panic of 1907. Fuel prices first rose to historic heights, then slid back down as consumption decreased. The stock market dropped like a rock. The value of most portfolios fell by 25 percent or more and many stocks are now selling at very low multiples (some below book value). The effects of these macro-events are still being felt on a global scale. It is a good time to be in a strong cash position!

One generally reliable economic group foresees a "Vee-shaped" recession where the unusually sharp decline in economic activity recently experienced will be offset by a sharp increase in mid-2009. There are reasons to be optimistic about a swift rather than slow recovery. The Federal Reserve has dramatically increased the money supply (opposite from the experience of the Great Depression of the early 30s). Governments now work closely together to reinvigorate global economic activity. The dire predictions of a lengthy global depression by fear mongers, some with personal agendas, will not come to pass. Periods of low economic activity create 'pent-up demand' by both consumers and businesses alike. The inventory of homes on the market is declining and mortgage rates are at historical lows. Government actions have begun to stem the tide of home foreclosures. As the measures now being implemented correct the public's "risk aversion hysteria," the present recession could very well be short-lived in most regions.

Other economists, often relying on models of earlier historical recessions, continue to predict a lengthy recession. Some pundits foresee a deep recession lasting well into 2010, with high unemployment and greatly reduced economic activity. The government feeds raw statistics to the media, who in turn report them in dramatic fashion. Theirs could be a self-fulfilling forecast as businesses continue to wait on reluctant consumers to return to the stores in sufficient numbers to reverse today's inertia.

Business owners and managers need to remain very flexible right now. When the current economic hysteria recedes, there will be new opportunities for alert marketers to resume growth. Management during a recession must walk a tightrope when cutting costs. For most firms, people are the largest single expense. To remain viable in the short-term, many firms must lay off people when the level of work drops. But, good people are also a firm's greatest asset when sales pick up again. It is vital for managers to balance cost-saving moves with the need to provide a high level of customer service and be ready when activity increases. Managers need to carefully plan actions that impact people, so that valuable workers will feel fairly treated and will want to return. Firms who recognize the turnaround and gear up quickly will be in the best position to serve existing customers and gain new business from competitors that may be slow to respond to the change in buyer's confidence.

Meanwhile, it behooves management to carefully reexamine business models and operating statements on a line-by-line basis. Here are some questions to ponder:

Marketing Facets - The Market-focused Guide to Company Analysis

Should a salesperson's birth date be an important fact for a company acquirer to know? Could extended product warranties create a competitive advantage? How does the company forecast sales? What are the backgrounds and capabilities of the firm's key managers? Answers to these and a vast array of other in-depth questions receive attention in Marketing Facets.

Marketing Facets is a practical resource for those involved in determining the current health of a company and gauging its future prospects. Marketing Facets is a 103-page guidebook, and a supplement to other evaluation procedures and information normally gathered during a thorough due diligence or business valuation process. The workbook takes a holistic approach, assembling facts and management assumptions in key areas to help the analyst form and support conclusions.

Marketing Facets is a valuable resource to private investment fund managers, individual investors, venture capital specialists, investment banks, and valuation specialists. Marketing Facets is also a guide for C-level executives who wish to perform their own company analysis as part of normal business planning, or in advance of efforts to refinance, acquire or divest.

Marketing Facets is available in electronic form via the Internet, on CD/ROM, or in print with a ring binder.
> Electronic in MS Word .doc or Adobe .pdf format via the Internet @ $79.95
> CD/ROM format @ $85.95 including U.S. shipping and handling
> Ring binder version and CD/ROM combo @ $99.95 including U.S. shipping and handling

Consulting is also available. Please contact me for additional information.
Telephone: 972.931.7993 Fax 972.931.0542 rpmorgan@morganmarketingsolutions.com.

Smiles make the day!
About economics and economy

1. The average economist thinks he knows more about money than the people who have it.

2. Car companies have finally found the answer to radical environmentalists; they now offer car with no power at all. It just sits in your driveway to impress the neighbors!

3. The economy is not as bad as we are led to believe. Many merchants report this year's going-out-of-business sales are much better than last year's.

4. The trouble with today's plan for a managed economy is the mismanagement!

5. The secret to survival is to live as cheaply the day after payday as you did the day before.

6. Economizing is so much easier when you are broke!

7. Some politicians and media pundits practice economy only with the truth.

8. An economist is someone who can tell you what to do with your money...after you have done something else with it!

Finally...

"It is a socialist idea that making profits is a vice; I consider the real vice is making losses." Sir Winston Churchill

$ Million Marketing Tips

TIP: Success sometime means overcoming customer apathy and inertia. If you are the first to spur a customer to action, you usually get the business.

TIP: You are building your business one person at a time. Each person is buying more than just a product for a price. You need to understand all that the customer is buying and all that you are selling.

1. There is enough salt in the world's oceans to cover the U.S. with a layer 1 1/2 miles deep.

2. Your brain uses 40 percent of the oxygen the enters your bloodstream.

3. Camels are born without humps.

4. George Washington, the father of our country, had no children!

5. Lettuce is part of the sunflower family.

6. Galileo fashioned the first thermometer, circa 1600 A.D.

> Wants to develop a more productive marketing program, or

> Needs help building and implementing an effective operational business plan, or
> Wants to exit a business or acquire another company,

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IN THIS ISSUE

What if our economy dramatically rebounds in 2009? What if it doesn't?

Marketing Facets - The Market Focused Guide to Company Analysis

Smiles make the day!

$ Million Marketing Tips