But very quickly we wake up and start to worry. While we’re on the beach, what’s happening to our business? What happens if sales dry up while we’re resting? What if we don’t have a business to come back to? Perhaps a downturn isn’t the best time for a break after all. Maybe we should be working harder just to maintain the current flow of work. But what can we do with reduced budgets and tighter competition?

Answer: plenty; but it’s time to roll up our sleeves and get dirty. 

According to Nielsen NetRatings, the average Australian spends a whopping 16.1 hours per week on the internet, which is more than any other media. So how can you, as a business make the most of this face to face time with your customers?

1. Use the web in place of traditional brochures. Don’t abandon brochures completely, just use them to direct customers to your website. On the website you can give greater detail, bigger photos, allow customers to interact with you (and with each other, if you’re game) and ask questions. It is equivalent to replacing shouting your wares on the street corner with a one-to-one conversation with people who are already interested.  You’re bound to have a higher conversion rate, for less dough.
2. E-newsletters – contact existing and prospective customers regularly (but not too often – everyone hates spam). Offer useful information in each e-newsletter, and allow readers to click to find more information, access special offers and talk to you directly. It’s cheap and proven to work.
3. Try new techniques like Google AdWords and Twitter. AdWords are the short, paid ads that appear on the right hand side of the page when you do a Google search. According to Roy Morgan, 11.9 million Australians used Google’s search at least once per month to find answers to their questions – and this number is continually growing. Google is running their own “small business stimulus” at the moment to encourage businesses to try AdWords. It’s worth $75 and for the moment, it’s free. Just go to www.google.com.au/stimulus to find out more. Google AdWords is not hard to do yourself, just remember the golden rule – make your keywords as specific as possible. 
   Many small business people are also “twittering” – posting regular comments of 140 characters or less (known as “tweets”) to Twitter. If you have been living in a cave in Outer Mongolia for the last year, Twitter is the somewhat addictive social networking site where people can talk at each other and follow others’ tweets. 
4. Get expert advice. As small business owners and managers we know a lot about the details of running our businesses. We know what to do if this item breaks, or if we are short staffed or if suppliers change. But we usually don’t know everything about the marketing, advertising, legals or accounting of our businesses. So get some help – as much help as you can.
5. Measure and improve. We all make mistakes. Some email or print campaigns might work a treat with our customers, but some might be major flops. Try to measure at least one thing with each mailout. For example, you might like to experiment with personalisation. Try splitting your email list into two groups. Send an email to the first group from a generic email address like info@mybusiness.com and send the second from a personal email address such as tom.smith@mybusiness.com.  Measure and record what works for you – every business is different. This way you can continuously improve, even in a downturn. 

If you already do all these things, well done! Sit back, adjust those sunnies and smell that salty air. Oh, and would you like another piña colada?