One of my good business colleagues is a CPA. We were talking several weeks ago, and he observed that way too many people think the economy is going to hell in a hand basket.

Based on what we’ve seen to date, it’s hard to deny that hell might be in a hand basket, and one that seems pretty full right now. But here’s what’s really grabbed my attention–I’ve seen more than my fair share of small business owners who are thriving when, in theory, they shouldn’t be.

Because they’ve seized that basket by its handle. They’ve made the basket their own by using this rough economic time to their advantage.

These industrious small business owners have realized that by adjusting what they do, they can turn their business from addressing the good times to succeeding in troubled times.

They are clever. They’ve examined their strengths in a different light, the light of an economy going in the other direction to adjust their company to meet today’s client needs.

Let me show you what I mean. At market OUT LOUD, one of our clients is a lawyer who specializes in worker’s compensation. While worker’s compensation claims usually go up during economic downturns, by rethinking his practice, he anticipates a four-fold increase in his billings. He sees his “new” Hand Basket — companies historically overpay worker’s compensation in 80 to 90% of the settled claims. Those are pretty well documented numbers. In the past, companies probably didn’t want to save that money as the hassle wasn’t worth it. Now it is. So our lawyer is showing them exactly where they can stop the overpayments at a time when they cannot afford to overpay. BAM…up goes his billings.

Here’s another example. Real estate isn’t flying off the shelves these days. Yet a realtor we know has discovered her Hand Basket for these economic times. She wants to buy good quality houses in short sale. To do that and get the houses before everyone else sees it, she started a mortgage modification business. Mortgage mod is hot right now…the perfect economic Hand Basket. But remember mortgage mod is not her end game. She wants to buy houses on a short sale. So here’s how her Hand Basket comes together. By working with clients to modify their mortgage, she is also finding people who want to sell their investments or personal homes on a short sale.

Now you know what my question is to you: “What is your Hand Basket for this economy?”

How can you modify your business, get out of the groove that has worked for you in the past and adjust to perfectly fit what people need right now?

First, let’s recognize the types of products and services that struggle when people are strapped for cash or are simply cautious about their spending. The big ones are expensive, luxury items and anything that could be considered a non-necessity. If what you offer isn’t totally necessary in our daily lives, then your products or services are candidates for a sales decline.

Next, you need to examine the groove your business has gotten into. Hey, it happens to all of us. Things are going well. We focus in and off we go. All of our systems are locked into a particular way of meeting the market that served us well in a strong market. All of our employees are tracked and rewarded to execute that direction. It’s not that we’ve stopped thinking about our business. It’s just that we’ve created a habit–a habit that worked in the good times but now it needs to change. Recognizing the habit is the next step to finding your Hand Basket.

If you offer a necessary product or service, you need to be even more necessary right now. You need to help your clients understand that what you offer is in the “must have” hierarchy of needs. And you need to do one more thing. I should get that “must have” from you. There are others out there who offer what you offer. Why should they choose you? You must deliver a benefit to your clients that they must have. The benefit is delivered to them because you are different than everybody else out there that does what you do. If everyone is alike, then we make our buying decision based on price–and that is surely not the place any of us want to be. This is the key–it’s the benefit that your clients are buying. The benefit arrives in a container marked “I’m different”. Some people call this your Unique Selling Proposition (USP). I’ve never been fond of that term as it’s all about you selling when in reality the right way to look at it is that it’s all about the client buying.

Let’s go back to my mortgage modification client. There are a lot of people offering such services. What makes her different is that, in addition to the mortgage mod, she can also help you determine what your house is worth and what it could sell for if you need to or decide to go that route. You don’t have to work with two people with opposing ideas. That’s a winner for her clients.

Don’t have a necessary product? You need to make your luxury a necessity. How can your non-necessary products and services become a “must-have”? It’s clear that luxury items and non-necessities are the first things to be cut, even if just for awhile. We’re a buying people and many behaviorists are wondering how long the American public can curb its buying habits. That said, let’s not wait for that to happen. Let’s grab your Basket by its Handle. It’s time to rethink the reason why people use your service.

I was noodling just this idea several weeks ago with a dentist. While he’s a necessity when we have a tooth ache, that’s not the revenue model on which his business is built. He makes his money on cosmetic dentistry, exactly the type of expenditure that consumers cut first. How could this classic luxury item be turned into a necessity? Here’s our thought–there will be a whole lot of older employees laid off or returning to the work force. They will be in competition for jobs with younger folks. Let’s be frank–they’ll need to look younger to get those jobs. Yellowing teeth. Not good. So our dentist friend could team up with Outplacement companies to offer teeth whitening for people in the job hunt. A luxury becomes a necessity. And our dentist has a new Hand Basket.

It’s time your business developed its new Hand Basket. How do you make your business invaluable during tough times? Make your business something I “must have”. Almost every business has a Hand Basket just to thrive in this economy. Your job is to shrug off your groove, get out of how you’ve looked at your business for years during the good times, and invert your thinking to make your business a “must have” during must have times.

If the economy is going to hell in a hand basket, make that Hand Basket yours!

Copyright © 2008 market OUT LOUD, All Rights Reserved.

Starting with her MBA from The Wharton School and across two decades of in-the-trenches experience, Martha Hanlon has developed innovative, high-performance marketing programs for every size company, from Fortune 100 firms to small business start-ups. She leads companies to start fun, authentic conversations with leads and clients, find out what they want and need, and then tell the story of how they can get it–from Martha’s clients. The happy result: watching the new business roll in. For Martha’s FR*EE how-to articles and marketing tips, visit www.marketoutloudtribe.com.

As a savvy business owner, you know the need for a company website–and you probably already have one. But the growing rush of eyeballs to social media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter means you need to establish an online presence there ahead of your competitors.

Before you simply cut-and-paste your About Us page into your Facebook profile, take a look at how you must transform your attitude before you can create an effective social media presence.

On your website it’s okay to say, “Sign up for my free report” because the visitor is on your turf. If you make the same offer on social media turf–while commenting on a blog post or a topic in LinkedIn Answers, for example–you’ll cause a lot of eye-rolling and may find yourself publicly scolded, labeled as a clumsy newbie, or reviled as a spamming shark.

Show your leadership and PULL others to follow you. Lay out a solution to their problem, a shining path to success in content you publish in free videos, posts, updates, and tweets. Just make it easy for them to find your e-mail and website address so they CAN find out about your offerings when they’re ready.

You must interact with those you meet online. If you’ve set up the appropriate Google Alerts, you’ll know whenever anyone anywhere on the web mentions you. And they expect you to respond. In fact, the more you make your presence felt, the more positively they’ll perceive you and your brand.

The social media landscape is almost unimaginably huge, and your resources are limited. So be strategic. Go where your customers are. Use Google Blogsearch, Twellow and other tools to find them. They’ll recognize and appreciate your exclusive attention.

Step 1 is to listen. What are they talking about? What matters to them? Then prove you’ve been listening by giving back and adding value. If someone says something you like, say so! An insightful compliment goes a long way.

To demonstrate your expertise, provide assistance and authoritative information. Point people to interesting resources like blog posts and videos–occasionally your own if they’re relevant to the conversation. And that’s the trick.

No one minds if you’re a good leader and a good marketer, as long as you put the common good first. Show your leadership, your preeminence, by consistently putting the interests of others before your own. That’s how to develop trust, a solid starting point for any business relationship.

An “expert’s expert,” Susan Raab helps you connect with new leads through social media, add prospects to your e-mail list at your web site, and then market information products and services to your list members via e-mail. She writes high-conversion “sales letter” landing pages, social media and e-mail campaigns as well as website copy. An author of best-selling books on sales and marketing and an award-winning corporate publisher, she can also help you create compelling information products to increase the lifetime value of your own clients.