If you're a technology, business-to business or financial-services marketer, then I have a question:

Are you ready to profit from today's economic crisis -
and take your business to the next level?

It happens every time the economy faces hard times.

A few entrepreneurs turn conventional wisdom on its head, break out from the pack and launch hugely successful companies. Right in the middle of a deep recession. Or even the Great Depression.

General Electric launched amid the Panic of 1873. Disney in the recession that happened right before the Roaring 20s.

These giant companies all started during the Great Depression:

The Depression also gave birth to two of the world's biggest ad agencies - Oglivy & Mather and Leo Burnett.

Even the computer you're reading this on was born in the slowdown of of 1974-5. That's when Microsoft launched. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were prepping the Apple I in 1975, in the recession, even if they didn't officially launch until 1976.

So. Will your company be the breakout success of the recession of 2008?

As true today as in every downturn of the past, a lot of factors work in your favor to make a recession an entrepreneur's best friend:

But this is a time when you'll need every edge you can get, starting with instant credibility.

In the first four seconds when you meet a new prospect, or that person lands on your web site, solely on the strength of the images and text they see there, and often without knowing anything else about you or your company, he/she will decide:

In other words: Does your branding make you look big enough, corporate enough, savvy enough to deserve their business?

People can’t help giving companies the four-second test. We’ve all been brought up to recognize that certain visual elements mean quality. And others just don’t. They make a company look underfunded. Unsophisticated. Or just plain uninterested – in doing a decent job, or in doing right by their customers.

In today's economy, potential clients are desperate to figure out who they can trust. Credibility has never been more important to your future - and prospects are looking for every clue they can find. Pass the four-second test, and you'll be a critical step farther down the path of those other great companies that took off in a downturn.

Now you can pass the four-second test. Every time.

In fact, you can look like a billion-dollar corporation long before you become one. It doesn’t take a billion-dollar budget – or billion-dollar production values.

What it does take is the knowledge and skill to choose – and apply – the visual elements that mean quality. (A warning here: don’t be shocked when you see how often that means leaving things out.)

And a branding consultant who can pull together the elements your business needs now - affordably and efficiently - and match your message to your market.

In fact, that should be your branding pro's top priority: lining up your brand with what your audience expects to see - and is ready to buy. Not what looks cool to the folks in the office. Or what the design trends of the moment are calling for.

So. Do you pass the four-second test now?

Find out with a comprehensive branding audit. Normally that's a $527 value. But I have a little time in my calendar, so I can offer this audit to 15 entrepreneurs at 30% off the regular fee, or just $368.90 - if you act by December 10, 2008. Click here for full details.

All the best,
mbaum
Mary Baum
Owner/ Chief Branding Consultant

P.S. Don’t wait — start your branding audit now, for just $368.90. I must get your email by December 10, 2008. I only have 15 slots, and I may never be able to offer the audit this way again.