A few weeks ago I was contacted by Kelly Kapinos of Signs & Designs in Bozeman, about designing a vehicle wrap for one of his clients. I had been wanting to design a wrap for awhile, and knowing that Kelly and I have worked well together on a few other projects… I jumped at the opportunity.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with “wrapping”, it is the art of printing graphic design elements on high performance vinyl and then applying that vinyl to a chosen surface. In our case, the client wanted to wrap the back half of his truck to promote his taxidermy services.

One of the first steps of this project was taking precise measurements of the vehicle, this is also one of the most important parts of the project as it determines how much vinyl it will take to achieve the desired results. Kelly took down all the measurements and then handed them off to me, along with photographs of the vehicle, so I could begin the next step of the process… finding appropriate artwork.

Searching for artwork proved to be one of the most challenging parts of the entire wrap. Our client wanted a bear snarling, which is easy enough… but finding an image large enough to be nearly life sized was difficult to say the least. Luckily for me, I eventually found a perfect image from Canadian photographer John Pitcher, and by contacting John directly, we were able to settle on a fair price for the photo.

With the photo and measurements in hand, it finally time to get to the design phase. With the creative software on my hard working Macintosh, I was able to show the client how the image would look on his vehicle before the vinyl was even printed. This also allowed Kelly the opportunity to show the client how the lettering would look as well. This allowed for any tweaking to be done and for the client to be satisfied with the overall design prior to the actual application.

I should note here that half wraps can be somewhat difficult to pull off. The challenge lies in creating a design that effectively covers half of the vehicle, but yet is designed in way that makes the transition from the paint of the vehicle to the graphic elements of the vinyl pleasing to the eye. This is something I think the design I came up with does very well, and luckily for me the client agreed too.

With the green light on the design, I burned a DVD of the rather large image files to give to Kelly. He then took the files and printed them to vinyl on his large format printer at his custom shop in Four Corners. Hours later with the printing complete, it was finally time for the highly anticipated install. It took a full day and part of another for the complete install, but as usual, Kelly did a fantastic job… and I think the finished results speak for themselves!

During the installation I talked Kelly into letting me tag along and snap some photos of the process. Check out the install photos for an idea of the hard work involved in creating a wrap like this. After seeing it in person, my sincere congratulations go to Kelly and the team at Signs & Designs for a job very well done.

Well that’s it for now, but keep your eye out for this rolling billboard around the streets of Bozeman. I hope you get to see it in person, because the photos in this post really don’t do it justice. As always, please leave us your comments below.

Yesterday I wrote about Congressman Denny Rehberg, a Republican from Montana. In that post, I told readers that I felt that Mr. Rehberg and all of our congressmen should be using Twitter.com as a platform to engage and connect with their voters. This morning, I was encouraged to hear that Mr. Rehberg had responded to Bridget Cavanaugh, and a few hours later, to myself and @superdaveh4eva.

not ignoring you either..between planes in Minn and will be home soon. Gotta hug the family first, then off to the circus

-@dennyrehberg

U.S. Representative Denny Rehberg (R-MT)

After yesterday’s post, I want to point out 3 quick social media tips and highlight what Representative Rehberg’s done right.

• Not ignoring public sentiment. One of the best ways to escalate something is to ignore it. Use social media the way that it’s intended – to give everyone a voice.
• Responding quickly. Web users (yes, myself included) have a tendency to allow a topic to escalate to greater and greater volumes, until it’s being shouted from the rooftops. By responding quickly Mr. Rehberg not only reassured the Tweeple, but gained respect among his followers.
• Making the time. Mr. Rehberg’s on his way back to Montana from D.C. While Tweeting, blogging or interacting on social media may not be your idea of ending the week on a high-note, Mr. Rehberg demonstrated that he’s listening. When it comes to politicians, that’s encouraging.

“The way you conduct business in this chamber has distinct advantages over the way things have been done lately in Washington, D.C… Part of that is because you work in the state you serve and Washington is 2,000 miles away. Here you’re held accountable for transparency while in Washington it’s become the norm to negotiate from the dead of night, behind closed doors. That’s why I’ve been in the export business for the last 9 years. I’ve been in the business of exporting Montana common sense, and some values to boot.”
-Rep. Denny Rehberg to MT Legislative Assembly

U.S. Representative Denny Rehberg (R-MT)

U.S. Senator Max Baucus (D-MT)

U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D-MT)

Montana has three members of the United States Congress, Representative Dennis “Denny” Rehberg (R) and Senators Jon Tester (D) and Max Baucus (D). Of our three congressmen, Mr. Rehberg has demonstrated the greatest affinity for social media and has been a great advocate of governmental responsibility and transparency. On March 13, 2009 he addressed the 61st Montana Legislative Assembly in Helena and on March 20th uploaded a four-part series to YouTube. Several quotes from Mr. Rehberg’s speech are highlighted in this post.

The first part of his address is entitled “Government Transparency”. This is primarily the topic I’ll be writing about today, as it relates to social media and Twitter.

Mr. Rehberg responded to @bcavanaugh with a nice Twitter DM on April 3, 2009. Encouraging!

Sen. Jon Tester's website encourages you to "Share Your Thoughts". All you need to do is fill out this 16 field web form.

Of Montana’s congressmen, Denny has taken great initiative in regards to using social media. Neither Senator Tester or Max Baucus have much of a presence to speak of. (See a Google search for “Max Baucus” or a Google search for “Jon Tester”)

• Sen. Max Baucus’ official website
• Sen. Jon Tester’s official website
• Rep. Denny Rehberg’s Twitter profile

Rehberg, a Republican from Montana, has a Facebook profile, his own YouTube channel and his official website lets users sign up for an e-newsletter or to send him an e-mail. All great steps in the right direction and ones that far outpace either of his U.S. Senate counterparts. But, couldn’t Rep. Rehberg be using Twitter to carry his transparency and accountability further?

So what’s my beef with Representative Denny Rehberg?

Social media is about connections. Real, personal connections with real people. If I want canned news releases or a daily schedule of appearances, I can find that easily enough. But why isn’t Representative Rehberg making a genuine effort to connect with Montana’s constituents, voters and taxpayers using Twitter.com?

“I’m under no illusions that things are tough right now in America. In February alone we lost 650,000 jobs… Those figures bring the total lost to almost a staggering 5 million. The national unemployment rate now stands at the highest level since Dec 1983… But these are just numbers that politicians and economists use to objectively measure the real pain that people are feeling.”

-Rep. Denny Rehberg to MT Legislative Assembly

Twitter thrives on connections with people. People who are incredibly similar and completely diverse. They run the gamut from PR professionals, software entrepreneurs and bicycle mechanics to tech gurus, downhill skiers and journalists.

If there were ever a group of Montanans you should be conversing with isn’t it Montana Tweeters?

Representative Denny Rehberg’s Twitter stats as of April 2, 2009

• Denny’s first Tweet was made on Aug. 6th, 2008… About 7 months ago.
• As of this writing, Denny had made 104 updates… That’s an average of about 1 Tweet every two days.
• His 3rd Tweet was to Rob Blue and reads as follows…
  @RobertBluey thanks for helping me learn Twitter. What do they say? The Revolution Will Be Twittered!
• The vast majority of the 63 people who Rep. Rehberg follows are fellow politicians. In fact all are fellow Republicans.
• Denny Rehberg has 836 people (followers) who are interested in what he has to say. The majority are just regular ol’ people.
• Initially, Rep. Rehberg posted his Tweets through the Twitter.com website. Now he mostly uses TwitterBerry, indicating he has Twitter access anywhere his cell phone works.

More Twitter statistics for Denny Rehberg can be had here…

Montana sunset. Photo by jnewland.

In Montana 300 people is a crowd

A few weeks ago I held a town hall meeting in Kalispell. I wanted to talk to real Montanans about the economy. I wanted to hear their thoughts and feelings, because numbers on a economic spreadsheet don’t give that kind of insight. More than 300 people filled the room…

-Rep. Denny Rehberg to MT Legislative Assembly

Mr. Rehberg, you have 836 more Montanan’s right here on Twitter who would love for you to engage them in conversation! I’m willing to bet that you can find 15 minutes per week, to ask genuine questions and listen thoughtfully to your Montana Tweeple.

I believe that there is clearly a role for government in our lives, but there is also the need for individual responsibility, effort and accountability.

-Rep. Denny Rehberg to MT Legislative Assembly

I absolutely guarantee that as soon as you flip your social media strategy upside down you’ll begin to leverage the platform to it’s fullest. Stop repeating and start engaging one-on-one. Your love of the Montana lifestyle is apparent, and Twitter is the perfect way to show it.

“…I’ll tell you what, you never know when you’ll get the opportunity to share a little bit of Montana with someone. Last September then-Senator Barack Obama tracked me down on the House floor. He didn’t want to talk the campaign or the economic crisis. He wanted to talk about flyfishing and his newfound love for Montana.”

-Rep. Denny Rehberg to MT Legislative Assembly

Downtown Livingston, Montana. Photo by tofslie.

What our readers can do to help

I’m asking each of my blog readers to help Representative Denny Rehberg use Twitter to it’s fullest and for the benefit of Montana in general. If you’re compelled to assist, will you kindly do the following?

First, if you live in Big Sky Country, please follow @DennyRehberg. By demonstrating you’re interested in what our elected officials have to say, perhaps we can encourage a two-way conversation.

Second, visit TweetCongress.org and petition Senators Baucus and Tester to join the conversation.

“We believe transparent government is better government. Twitter enables real conversation between lawmakers and voters, in real time. Find your representatives in Congress, follow them and give them a tweet full!”

-from www.TweetCongress.org

Finally, send an @message to Rep. Rehberg, politely (and in 140 characters or less) suggesting 3 other Montanans you think he should connect with. Something like:

@dennyrehberg I think you should follow @name, @name, @name. They’re from #Montana too!

10 Twitter tips for politicians

Shepherd with his horse and dog on Gravelly Range. Photo by 20after4.

Bridget Cavanaugh got my wheels turning with her respectfully-written letter to Representative Rehberg, so I do owe her a debt of inspiration…Here are the social media tips I’d like to add to the conversation:

1. Create a Twitter plan. Start small and grow with the medium. As busy as you are, consider having a staff member select several Tweeters you should be in touch with that week, or a few topics you can address for the week.
2. Take time to Tweet the things you’re passionate about. When you do it is immediately apparent to everyone listening and helps to keep the tone casual. It’s all about showing you’re just another human!
3. Re-tweet other’s thoughts and musings when they mirror your own or are a good topic of conversation. Not only is this a great timesaver, it demonstrates your open-minded and interested.
4. Photos! Services such as Twitpic and Flickr allow you to upload photos on-the-go. Almost every BlackBerry and cellphone has a camera, so give your readers something they can’t get anywhere else. It may be as simple as a snapshot of where you are now, or someone interesting that you’ve met – we’ll still enjoy seeing what’s going on.
5. Add a Twitter badge to your website. You’ll be absolutely amazed at how many people will find you there and tune in for updates. Encourage people to follow you and to be active participants.
6. Download TweetDeck. It’ll help you filter out the noise and hone in on important conversations taking place right now.
7. Use the Twitter search function at least once per month – even more is better. You can do this through a program like TweetDeck or on the Twitter site itself. The link I’ve provided here will even filter out results for “Hannah Montana”!. There are lots of great tutorials about how to search Twitter for relevant conversations.
8. Start a blog. Your blog is your social media platform. When you need more than 140 characters, this is the place. Blog posts certainly need not be the length of this article. I really enjoy Seth Godin’s blog where articles are short, but consistently added. In fact, if you send an e-mail, I’ll gladly get you started pro-bono.
9. Do ask questions. I can’t even begin to tell you the wealth of Montana knowledge and wisdom just waiting to respond – and who knows we may all learn a thing or two!
10. Don’t be dissuaded by the naysayers or those who just want to argue. There’s are jerks who love to Tweet before they think – we call them Twatters because of their ability to do nothing but whine. Open minded Tweeple far outnumber those with a bad TwitterTude!

I’m aware of the challenges facing our country and the world… The wellbeing of almost a million people in Montana and millions throughout the nation… They know that we’re having difficulty and much of their future is at stake.”

-Rep. Denny Rehberg to MT Legislative Assembly

I welcome reader comments…

Tell me your thoughts below. Am I completely off my rocker? What was your “ah-ha” moment with Twitter? Do you have a social media tip to share with Representative Denny Rehberg?

Overview of the Bozeman, Montana gas explosion

On March 5, 2009 at approximately 8:40am, 5 businesses were destroyed in the Bozeman explosion and several other Main Street businesses were damaged when a natural gas explosion occurred. While 11 people were originally unaccounted for; that number trickled down to 1 casualty – a 36 year old woman.

Most of the other facts of the Bozeman explosion are well documented by other media sources, including:

THE ESPERANZA CENTER, a community-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides SW Montana youth and their families with equine-facilitated education and therapy, announces that its new logo, designed by David Howlett of Bozeman’s Manifest Creative, has been awarded the Logo Of The Day award for February 6, 2009 by the internationally-recognized logo-design website www.logooftheday.com. Manifest Creative, a Bozeman graphic design and web development company, has generously donated its services to help share The Esperanza Center’s alternative education and therapy vision with the community. The Esperanza Center gratefully thanks Manifest Creative and congratulates David Howlett for the well-deserved, professional award.

The community is invited to view, comment, and vote for the new logo design on www.logooftheday.com. For more information about The Esperanza Center visit www.theesperanzacenter.com or call 406.600-4022. Contact Manifest Creative at www.manifestbozeman.com or by calling 406.585.9406.

You can view the logo in use at the Esperanza Center’s temporary website:

http://www.theesperanzacenter.com

You can also view a cool animated progression of the logo development:

http://manifestbozeman.com/blog/2008/12/19/cool-animation-of-the-progression-of-a-logo/

And if you you still want more info, you can read the full story behind the logo progression:

http://manifestbozeman.com/blog/2008/12/17/logo-progression-local-non-profit-gets-a-new-look/

Thanks for stopping by the Manifest Creative marketing blog! Please be sure to vote for the Esperanza Center logo and as always, we would love to hear your comments!

Today we’re continuing in our recent vein of articles… Baby steps for beginners who would like to improve their Montana internet marketing; but don’t know where to even begin.

This article will focus on e-mail marketing, specifically, how to create a list of people and addresses to mail to.

What is e-mail marketing?

E-mail marketing is the process of sending e-mail messages to others to tell them more about your product or service. Most companies use web-based e-mail marketing software dedicated to this task. This software allows you to design your message using tools you’re already familiar with – similar to Microsoft Word. They let you insert your logo, photographs and other branding items into your e-mail to help it look more professional.

We will cover the software side of e-mail marketing in a separate article.

List of common email marketing software:

• MailChimp.com – Newer to the market than some of it’s cousins. I’ve been very impressed with their service, and the price is a great value. Try their service for free if you would like.

• Constant Contact – One of the more established companies, they arguable have the broadest market share.

• Emma - Touting it’s custom-designed templates and uncluttered interface, Emma is the more expensive choice. I’ve not used it personally, but have heard good things from other Montana small-business owners.

How do I start my e-mail marketing campaign?

You should begin by getting permission. We all hate spam, in fact most of us detest the mere existence of spam. You wouldn’t want you want your business to be seen as a spammer would you?

When you get explicit permission to send e-mail to someone, you’re not only following anti-spam laws, you’re demonstrating that you care about your customers. Marketing studies have shown time and time again that by gaining clear permission you’re also adding value to any of the messages that a customer receives. When they see your name in their inbox that person says to themselves subconsciously, “Oh yeah, there’s a message from that person that asked my permission!”

5 Different Ways to Ask Permission

1. With the invoices you mail out each month. This is the perfect opportunity because your client will be mailing their check back to you. Include a short, printed form asking their name, company name and e-mail address and have them mail it back. You may have to do this several times before you see any returned in the mail.

2. By telephone. That’s right, pick up and call! While this method may not be practical for huge mailing lists, let’s face it… many of us could use the excuse to brush up on our cold-calling skills. Plus, people love to hear from companies who aren’t just “selling something.” Be personable, be chatty, be brief. Confirm their contact details and above all, make sure you’ve got that information spelled right!

3. With a direct postal mailing. Probably the least effective of all the methods, since it’s just another form of junk marketing. However, companies that already have an extensive mailing list may benefit from this method, especially if their mailing is a newsletter or other piece that adds value to their marketing message.

4. At the point of sale. This is an especially great way to grow your list with new customers. Create a printed page with a bunch of blank lines. Ask your customers to add their information voluntarily while you are ringing up their purchases at the register. Restaurants should include a card with the bill to allow diners to sign-up.

5. With a contest or giveaway. This is by far the most effective way to gain permission to send e-mail. The key is to not be bashful about the fact that you would like permission to send the entrant e-mail. Use verbage like “Win a free lunch when you sign-up for our e-mail list.”

Remember, asking permission from each of your clients before adding them to your list shows that you care about how they feel about your business.

Downloadable E-mail Permission Slips!

Just above, I mentioned two printed e-mail marketing pieces. A form to place into your monthly invoices, and another to have handy on your counter when customers are checking out. Download the examples below and customize them with your own logo!

• Mailable Permission Slip - Download Word file

• Counter Permission Slip - Download Word file

How to create an e-mail marketing contact list

Now that we have permission out of the way (you did get permission didn’t you), the next step in e-mail marketing is to begin assembling a list of address that you would like to e-mail to.

The best program for this is Microsoft Excel. I’ve created a short video showing you how to do this. You can download the Excel file here.

That pretty much wraps up our discussion on the first steps to e-mail marketing success. Does your Montana business need help with internet marketing? We would love to talk with you and offer some practical tips and timesaving advice.

If you have comments or feedback about this article, or just found it useful, won’t you send us some comment love below?

Today, Google.com sent me an interesting press release. They’ve announced that their service “Street View” is now available in Montana. At first glance, it appears that a great deal of ‘metropolitan’ Montana is included in this release.

What is Street View anyway?

Street View is a part of Google Maps. There are 3 main types of views in Google maps that include:

1. The standard map view (similar to looking at an atlas)
2. A satellite/aerial view that shows all the topography
3. A hybrid view that shows the satellite view with street names overlayed.

Now, with the introduction of Street View for Montana you can also see 360-degree street level images of cities, towns and regions in our neck of the woods. Previously Street View was only available in larger cities such as San Francisco, Portland and Seattle.

You can activate Street View from any Google map by dragging the small orange “pegman” icon (located at the top left, above the zoom slider) over the map. Blue outlines will indicate where the street level vantage point is available.

Here’s a brief video overview of Street View and how it works…

So why should you care?

You should care because it introduces some unique aspects for your Bozeman, Montana website design. Let’s say for example that you are a hotel here in Montana. You’ve written about some of the tourist attractions nearby your lodge and you’ve shown the location using a traditional Google map. Now you can also show a virtual tour of sorts of nearby parks, attractions, shopping… the list goes on.

• Integrate it with your driving directions to make it easier to see the streets that accompany your directions.
• Show ease of access to those who may have disabilities (think medical office), to industrial partners (think delivery access), or if your business is located in an area of town that is considered difficult to get to or park at.
• Offer it as a tool to online users. If you’re a realtor, property developer, chamber of commerce or other community organization use Google Street View to let your web visitors explore neighborhoods, parks, business locations. Business associations can let their website visitors “walk” the downtown area where they are located.
• Here are ten other Street View Business Tips from Google.

Instead of me just telling you about this service, I’ve put together a few links to show you.

• Downtown Bozeman Map (Tracy and Main St.)
• Map of MSU – Bozeman (Grant and S. 11th St.)
• Old Faithful – Yellowstone National Park
• Going to the Sun Rd. – Glacier National Park
• Montana Capitol Building – Helena, MT
• Flathead Lake (as seen from Bigfork, MT)

Major Montana cities included in this release:

• Bozeman, MT
• Belgrade, MT (Just a little bit of Jackrabbit Ln.)
• Missoula, MT
• Billings, MT
• Great Falls, MT
• Helena, MT
• Butte, MT
• Kalispell, MT

Notably absent however is the ski resort destination of Big Sky, MT. While certainly not a major city, it is one of the most beautiful drives in Montana up Highway 191 to Lone Mountain.

How do I add Google Street View to my website?

Incorporating Google’s Street View is very easy and quite inexpensive for casual uses such as showing your business location. More advanced uses, such as using Street View to browse real estate listings, will require integration of your website with the Google Maps API framework.

Contact us for a few quick tips on setup and a free estimate.

Thanks for checking out this post. Consider subscribing if your enjoy our Montana internet marketing articles.

By David Howlett

If you hadn’t already noticed, times are getting tough for businesses in Montana. In the bigger scope of things, it is safe to say that things are getting harder all over. These are economically scary times for Montana businesses, and fear and uncertainty seem hard to escape these days. With the unfortunate forecast of many small businesses going belly up, we wanted to provide a few strategies to help ensure that your business can weather the storm.

Don’t Panic – Stay Focused

Getting caught up in the panic and everyday struggle can easily lead to short sightedness, and even worse catastrophic failure. Although difficult, maintaining your focus on long-term goals and business objectives can help ensure your success both during and after slow economic times. Take measures to help keep your aim down the long run, like writing down some key objectives you would like to accomplish.

Once you have outlined your objectives, it is time to make a plan. If you want to recession-proof your Montana based business, you are going need to come up with a strategy to reach your goals. Set your targets in a financial plan for income and expenses and take steps to ensure that every decision made regarding your business fits into your overall business strategy. When times are uncertain, straying too far from the straight and narrow path could have dire consequences.

Leverage What You’ve Got

When faced with times like these, it is essential for businesses in Montana to investigate the resources they may already have in place. Look around… there are almost always things that can be done to help your business run as lean as possible without diluting the value of the service it provides. Make time to research ways to improve your product, maximize your advertising dollars, improve work flow, reduce costs, and sharpen your business model… the dividends will show up on your bottom line.

Explore new ways to engage with your customers, and don’t be afraid to find out how the current economic situation is affecting them and how you can help. By simply tuning into their needs you can develop strategies to make it easier for them to purchase from you. After all, a well satisfied customer is usually a repeat customer, and it is far cheaper to retain customers than it is to attract new ones.

If you have employees, quiz them for suggestions they might have for making your business better. Asking your employees what they want/need will help you to better understand and meet your customers needs. Chances are you will find the feedback you receive from employees on the front line a valuable asset. As an added benefit, employees who have a say in their job are often happier, and happy employees are usually more productive and tend to call in sick less too.

Dare to diversify, because the more services you can provide, the more customers you will ultimately be able to attract. When you explore ways to be innovative and force yourself to think outside the box, you begin to create an edge over your competitors. No matter what type of service your business provides, you should be able to develop ‘new’ offerings by repackaging your services to attract potential customers who may have overlooked you as an option in the past. Thus opening yourself up for attracting new customers.

Finally, do everything within your power to make your Montana business shine on all levels – from amazing customer service, clear on through to outstanding management and leadership. Steps taken in these departments will have great long-term benefits for your organization, and will help your business stand out from the crowd.

Cash Is Best

One of the many lessons to learn in a recession, it is that that being liquid is paramount. The importance of cash flow in the fiscal health of your business should not be overlooked, because it is the ultimate factor in determining whether you can keep your doors open. So do your business a favor and take measures to build up your cash reserves.

One of the things you can do immediately to help increase your cash flow is collecting on your accounts receivable. After all, if there was ever a time to chase after delinquent accounts… now is the time. On the other hand, you should pay your accounts payables as slowly as possible without getting yourself in trouble.

Using the measures above coupled with keeping your expenditures low can assist in freeing up some cash flow in your organization. That is not enough though, I urge you to maintain a sharp eye on your bottom line and calculate whether you have enough cash to pay your expenses if revenue were to suddenly drop. Just because money is coming in the door today, does not necessarily mean the same can be said for tomorrow.

Manage Your Credit Wisely

Businesses that strongly rely on credit to manage their dealings are usually the first to fail when the economy goes soft. Of course some credit is a good thing, but if your business has several lines of credit, you might consider renegotiating any outstanding loans or lines of credit taken out more than six months ago. With the current credit crunch you may have a chance to negotiate a more favorable rate, which will in-turn help you to increase your cash reserves.

Don’t Cut Your Pricing

Although it might be tempting, you must avoid slashing prices to try and sell more product in an economic downturn. When you cut your price structure there is a chance that more product will be sold, but the down side to this is that your profit margins will decrease and you risk the chance of your brand image becoming diluted. If cutting prices cannot be avoided, try offering discounts only to current or repeat customers. This is important, because if new customers are given discounts, they will expect similar discounts when doing business with you in the future.

Watch for Opportunities

When financially crippling times occur, there are basically two types of stand out businesses… those who suffer and those who prosper immensely. The key to surviving – or perhaps even prospering – during an economic downturn is being aware of opportunities and positioning your business to take action when they occur!

For example, you are probably not the only one feeling pinched. Chances are that your competitors are also struggling to make ends meet and some of those weaker competitors may be prone to failure. This usually leaves some favorable opportunities in the form of skilled employees, tools, equipment and gained market share in the wake of a collapse. That is why during hard times, keeping one’s ear to the ground to stay abreast of changes in the market can prove to be very beneficial.

In the circumstance that you actually do manage to hire key people from competitors in your industry, make the most of it and be sure to submit press releases outlining the changes. Leveraging the power of these opportunities for good PR normally proves to have long-term payoffs.

Grow Your Business

While your geographic location may be suffering during a weak economy, others might be thriving. Changes in the Montana real estate market (both residential and commercial) are subject to significant shifts in slow economic times. With prices dipping to historic lows, your business might be able to take advantage of expanding into a new location that might have increased square footage, a better location, substantially more foot traffic, or a host of other amenities. There is also a high likelihood that you can get a better interest rate and be able to take advantage of more favorable negotiating terms as well.

A recession is also the perfect opportunity to look at upgrading the major equipment your business relies on. The advantage here is that as suppliers become more desperate, discounts in the pricing structure of capital equipment usually become more evident. At times like this, forward-thinking customers like you are a welcome sight, and you might be able to cash in on some great purchasing incentives during the process.

Increase Your Marketing/Advertising Efforts

One of the worst mistakes businesses usually make during a recession is the decision to cut back on their marketing activities. Many of your competitors will fall into this category, so in turn you need to be more aggressive than ever! This doesn’t mean you should just throw your advertising dollars at the problem, on the contrary… the key to succeeding in marketing is to have a comprehensive plan of attack.

Start by making a thorough evaluation of your current marketing strategy. Highlight what is working and take note of what is simply wasting valuable revenue. During an economic crisis, it is more important than ever to track your advertising dollar, so make sure your marketing is cost-effective. Challenge your advertising venues to provide you with measurable results and don’t be afraid to ask your customers how they are finding you.

Set yourself apart from the competition by developing your own unique selling point (USP), which can be anything from superior customer service, to the lowest prices or even touting outstanding quality or craftsmanship. Once you’ve established your USP, make sure the everyone is aware of it by forming a great marketing campaign to exploit it. This will give prospective customers a good reason to do business with you over your competitors.

When it comes to marketing, remember to use every creative opportunity to advertise and build your brand. For example, try including marketing materials in things you already do… like mailing out invoices. This can help you save postage and other costs as well. You can also maximize your point-of-purchase opportunities by tucking coupons or promotional materials in the bag along with items a customer has purchased.

As another means of maximizing your marketing, you might also seek to combine your advertising efforts with that of neighboring businesses. When the market is slow, doing so will greatly help stretch your advertising/promotion dollars even further. By taking the time to partner with businesses in your vicinity you may discover ways to help each other out. Establish and nurture healthy alliances and in turn, favorable opportunities will be sure to flourish.

Take Advantage of Technology

These days there are a variety of new technologies that are designed to help save you money.  There are countless websites and web services that help save businesses just like yours thousands of dollars each year. Modern technology offers you the convenience of holding a conference call, sharing a online presentation, or even conversing via webcam with even the most basic of internet services. Now instead of traveling for business related functions, you can simply manage dealings from your office right here in Montana.

You can also use the power of the internet to find better deals on the products that you use most. If you need it, you can find it on the internet, and usually at significant savings too. If buying local services or purchasing made in Montana products is an important aspect of your business, than I suggest you show your local supplier the deals you can find online and see if they will be willing to come close to matching the cost.

The bottom line here is that if you haven’t taken a good look at all the opportunities the internet can offer lately, now is the perfect chance! What are you waiting for?

Swallow Your Pride

When things seem to crumbling down around you, don’t be afraid to ask for help or assistance. If nobody knows you are in trouble, no one will be able to help until it is too late. Reach out to people who care about your business, perhaps even people who have been in similar situations before or maybe even worse. Seek out savvy business people who have been hardened through Montana’s hard economic struggles in the past. Their expertise and guidance could be just the footing you need to help make it through.

Don’t Try to Just Wait it Out

In a recession, it is not a safe bet to simply hunker down and hope the whole mess will simply blow over. The most important thing you can do to recession-proof your Montana business is to take action. In this article I’ve given you some of the top tips, best tactics, effective strategies and things to do that will help your business survive during hard economic times. Start improving your situation today… I’ve shown you the way, but now it is up to you to take the ball and run with it. Don’t wait… start taking action right away… like now!

Incorporating the proper measures now can help you weather the storm. Remember recession is a temporary economic problem, in fact, most recessions only last for a few years. So although in the short term, there might be rough roads ahead, in the long term the positive changes you make now will benefit you for a long time to come.

A Few Last Words…

So that’s about it. The good news for you is that history has shown that businesses which are still around after a recession tend to do very well. The reason for this is that when the economy stabilizes, those businesses are already well established and the weaker competition has been weeded out.

That being said, your goal is to make sure your business is one of the ones that is still around when the sun finally comes out again. Until then, pack your umbrella and I wish you the best of luck.