Four Ways to Maintain a Strong Business in a Bad Economy by Kathy Hrach

The economic news in America keeps getting gloomier. A lot of bad business words are flying around - such as recession, bailout, depression, downturn, downsizing, etc. Marketing departments are cutting budgets. Sales reps are saving money by making fewer customer visits. Businesses are hunkering down to wait out the storm. Makes sense, right? Wrong.
Why? Because when you hide, you're forgotten. Sure, you may be saving money, but your customers won't remember who you are or what you do. You may think that all of your competitors are hiding too - and most will - but there will always be at least one who forges ahead. One who embraces the tough economy and finds creative ways to stay in front of their customers. One who fights back and refuses to toss their hands up in frustration. One who takes business away from their competitors. Which one would you rather be?
Here are Some Things You Can Do to Keep Your Business Strong:
1. Figure Out Who Your Customers Are Now is when you need to be most efficient with your sales and marketing efforts. It's a waste of your time and money to go after everyone who inquires about your products or services. Figure out who your best customers are and focus on keeping them happy and finding others just like them. They often say 20% of your customers bring in 80% of your business. Find out who that 20% is ASAP.
2. Diversify Your Target Markets A bad economy for one industry may be a boon for another. If you only cater to one specific industry, it might be time to get creative and find ways to branch out and diversify. Sometimes this is the biggest challenge that businesses face, but often it's easier than you think. Keep an open mind and think creatively.
3. Pay Attention to Where You Spend Rather than making drastic budget cuts, first analyze how you are spending your money. A little trimming here and there could go a long way towards saving money each month. Be sure to test your sales and marketing efforts as well. Don't be afraid to try new things, but always analyze your efforts to make sure you're not wasting time or money.
4. Make and Keep a Regular Outreach Plan Whatever you do, don't go into hiding. Make a plan to communicate with current and potential customers. Send them handwritten notes, give them a call, drop them an email, and continue to update your website. Keep in touch and show them that you are still in business and ready to serve.
As they say during any tough times - only the strong survive. Choose to be one of the strong ones. Don't let economic fears affect your success - fight back.
About the Author
Kathy Hrach is Co-founder of Write On Results, a marketing agency that uses real pens and real writers to hand address their clients' envelopes for dramatically improved direct mail response rates. She writes the monthly Pen & Paper Marketing Blog.

What Is Water On The Knee

If you have it, you will probably know it, if you have not, rest assured, you do not want to get it. Water on the knee is a condition where an individual has fluid that will build up around the joints in the knee. You can have it in one knee or in both. Your doctor might refer to it as knee effusion. Water on the knee can be caused for several different reasons. One thing is for sure, you will likely have to have it treated.

Water one the knee can be one of several different fluids. What type of fluid you have to build up will depend on what type of problem you might have. You might have a disease or you could have some trauma due to an injury. It could be something as simple as over use. Your doctor will need to be consulted in order to diagnose the reason.

When your knee gets damaged from injury, it can cause a fluid called synovial to accumulate around the joints and tendons of the knee cap. The fluid can contain blood, bacteria, and even little crystals than are irritating and very painful. It can cause the swelling and puffiness. Water on the knee can also cause it to bruise more easily than normal. The best examples of injuries to the knee that can create this problem is broken bone, ligament tears, and overuse injuries like exercise or too much repetitive bending or squatting.

We all know that diseases can cause all kinds of symptoms. Water on the knee can be a side product of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, kneecap bursitis, cysts, tumors, and others. Avoiding any additional trauma to the area is imperative as it would only aggravate the condition you already have.

Your doctor might prescribe will prescribe specific medications for your particular knee issue depending on whether it is an injury or from a disease. You might be required to wear a knee brace for a period of time or even permanently if the problem recurs frequently or never goes away. When this knee condition is cause by gout or physical conditions, you might have to make changes in your diet in order to help correct the problem.

Many older people can have this problem with many of the joints in their body where they are injured more easily or have physical conditions that cause them, but young people are certainly not immune to joint issues as well. It is always good to seek the advice and treatment of your doctor anytime you have a joint issue that will not go away or irritates you frequently.

Aydan Corkern is a writer, water damage restoration professional, and promoter of water damage texas and water damage florida.

There Is More To A Water Damage Company Than Meets The Eye

You might think that the only time that you would need to call in a water damage company would be if you had a home flood of some sort, but that is far from the case. Today, many water damage companies offer a variety of services that can just be associated with water damage issues. They are more professional than ever and a great company will have the most up to date equipment and workers to handle whatever the situation might be.
So often when there is a fire in a home, it will also be accompanied by water damage as well as fire damage. When a fire department is called in, they can literally pump hundreds of gallons of water into a home if the fire is large enough and difficult to extinguish. This means that first you will have room that have been burned, but while putting out the flames, they can then be flooded with water too.
This makes for a doubly bad situation. Most of the time even places that are untouched by flames can be soaked with water. You need to employ a company that knows how to clean up and repair the damage from both of these situations. Your insurance company had much rather hire one company to do both jobs instead of dealing with two companies.
Flames and fire are still only two side affects that can come from a fire or a flood. Smoke damage from a fire can be all over a home, even in the rooms that had no flames. After fire or flood, you can also get mold damage that sets in. The smell from smoke is hard to get rid of and mold absolutely must be killed. The most up to date water damage companies will know how to rid your home of smoke filth and smell and should also be able to eliminate mold.
Even with all of those services, there are still more that water damage companies can offer. Many of them can offer document drying services that can include restoration of documents, photographs, and other multi media restoration.
Home fires or floods can be one of the most devastating times for a family to go through and dealing with four or five different sets of repair persons can be an added stress they really do not need. Why not find one company that absolutely does it all? It will be better for you and your home in the long run.

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