Keeping Your Business Afloat

Here's some great advice from Rand Fishkin at SEOMoz on how best to weather the current financial storm.  

Snap Up Cheap Talent - if the job market does turn south, that spells opportunity to grab some great people, often at less exorbitant salaries than in an up-tempo economy. Some smart startups in NYC are already jumping on the tech talent lost in the last week.

Invest in Easy-to-Test, High ROI Projects - Rather than taking the "let's sit this one out" approach, I'd suggest taking a slightly riskier route and investing in projects where you can quickly and easily determine potential ROI. Stagnation is not only bad for business, it's bad for the economy as a whole, and those who generally come out on top in business as a whole are the same ones with the guts and brains to invest in smart projects when times are tough.

Market in Trackable Ways - Networking can be tough to measure, as can brand marketing, TV ads, print media and other non-electronic forms of advertising. If you're going to cut back, do so in these arenas and re-invest somewhere you can watch your money grow in exceptional detail... like SEO, PPC, E-mail marketing and web advertising. With every click tracked, you'll know exactly what you're spending and how much it's earning you.

Watch your Burn Rate - With investment and even credit hard to come by, it's a good time to review the soundness of your financial picture and outlook. Check your balance sheet and cash flow statements and be sure you can weather 6-12 bad months. If you can't, you've got two options - invest in growing quickly or find ways to cut expenses. The former may seem riskier, but if done right, it's much more appealing and potentially smarter than trimming budgets and people (as you're often also cutting into sales when you scale back).

Make sure Your Business is Your Passion - This is always true, but in times of economic turmoil when you might have to work longer, harder hours and miss out on some of life's luxuries, the best cure is to love what you do. Chris Anderson even gives you a better shot at succeeding than the pros :-)

Start Your Own Business - The ease with which anyone can start an online business makes it an incredibly attractive prospect and if your'e reading SEOmoz, you probably already know a hundred ways to earn a living off the web. Find your niche and dive in - it's a surprisingly low cost investment, even if it doesn't work out.

Read more on What Does the Stock Market Implosion Mean for Your Online Business?

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