Well, I have news for him and anyone else who thinks this way. You will be quite surprised how far you and your business will be behind when you pull your head out of the sand. Here are some things I hope you can understand and consider about today’s small and medium-sized business landscape.

Your business will never be the same as it was before the economic downturn – period.

Those who think that, once this economic crunch is over, they will go straight back to offering the same business model as before our financial crisis will have a huge wake up call coming. The businesses that are working to reinvent themselves are already leaps and bounds ahead of you. Why is this important? See the next point…

Your customer’s needs (and maybe wants) are different now.

With money being tight for everyone, your product or service is more scrutinized than ever before. Therefore, the value you bring your customer must be like never before. It’s a buyer’s market in most industries, so your product or service must stand out above the rest and solve an important need of your target audience.

There are many things I have noticed businesses doing to make forward strides in spite of the dip in the economy. Here are some of the trends I see that you can implement:

Allow employees to telecommute

Save cost for the employee and the business by allowing employees to work from home several days a week. This can cut down on office costs and offers employees flexibilities in trade for other “perks” you may not be able to afford in today’s market. Work is still getting done but for less cost.

Reduce print marketing / increase internet marketing

Print marketing can be an effective means to communicate to your clients and prospects, but it is also one of the most expensive means to do so. Cut marketing costs by going electronic. Email marketing, website improvements, and social media efforts are typically dollar for dollar better spent money than print anyways.

Hire virtual employees

Companies are starting to recognize that they do not have to invest in employees the same way they used to. The objective is to get the job done right – most efficiently and effectively – as a result businesses are turning to virtual employees. Websites like elance.com and Odesk.com make finding these resources much easier. If you have needs that are consistent and easily replicated you might consider even an international virtual employee through sites like virtualemployee.com and remoteworkmate.com. These sites can help you find cost-effective resources to help through the peaks and keep you from having to hire in-house employees to get the work done.

One of the service offerings we have at Three Hats Marketing is virtual marketing employees. If you have recently downsized your marketing staff or are considering hiring to meet current needs – give us a call. Our approach will definitely save you money and offer you better results.

But as a business owner or executive, you probably are starting to see more and more business opportunities present themselves every month – and being “lean and mean” is hurting you. It’s common in today’s economy that businesses don’t have the resources in-house to respond as quickly and effectively as they need to.

So what are your options? Do you always have to hire extra employees to be ready to respond? How do you know what abilities do you need?

One of the services Three Hats Marketing offers is virtual marketing employees. Simply put, what this can bring your business is the flexibility, resources, and the experience your business needs, when you need them. It alleviates the need to hire full time, in-house personnel and incur the on-going expense. It is the smart answer to the peaks and valleys all our businesses have.

To learn more about how a Three Hats Marketing virtual marketing employee can help your business, give us a call.

If you are looking to hire a new full-time marketing resource, then more than likely you have defined a list of needs you hope that an individual can fulfill for you and your business. If you are looking for a director-level role you probably need help with your overall strategy, if you are looking for a manager-level role you need help with getting the initiatives done on time and on budget and if you are looking for a designer, coordinator, or assistant-level role, you need someone to help you execute.

Even though your focus is to find a resource for one of the above roles, honestly a business’s overall marketing needs cross over into all three areas: strategy, management and execution. But most companies are hard pressed to make that kind of investment on full-time in-house employees