Advertising in the good times and bad

There's nothing like impeccable timing to start a business. I launched TK Magazine, for example, almost 4 years ago, and 1 year into it the economy began to fall apart. It's been a rough few years, mostly because the magazine is advertiser supported and companies slooooowed their advertising down or stopped it altogether.

There's the old story of Post vs Kelloggs from the days of the Great Depression. When the economy crashed and burned, Post pulled the reins on its advertising to save cash, while Kelloggs continued advertising -- realizing that it needed to continue pushing its message out there to the market. Going into the Great Depression, Kelloggs and Post each owned about the same percentage of the overall cereal market, but after the recovery, Kelloggs was so far out in front that to this day Post is still a Kelloggs wannabe.

It's been a BIT easier to sell ads as of late, but I admire those small business owners who realized that if they disappeared during the bad times, customers would be drawn to competitors who didn't and they may not be able to win them back during the good times.

“The man who stops advertising to save money is like the man who stops the clock to save time.” –Thomas Jefferson