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The economic downturn has hit my area hard; of the 100 counties in North Carolina, Rutherford County, where I live, has the third highest unemployment rate in the state. I'm afraid the trouble started with NAFTA, long before the present recession came along. When I was young, this was a textile town with upwards of 30 cotton mills that ran three shifts a day. There are only 2 left now, and they're barely hanging on. They supplied cloth mainly for the furniture factories that we were known for in years gone by, and most of them are gone, too.

I don't like problems...I just like solutions. My solution to the recession we're in, for my practice, has been to view that as a marketing opportunity. This is a stressful time for many people, and what do stressed-out people need? Right-a massage!

I've had sheets of coupons printed, six coupons to a sheet, offering the measly sum of $3 off on a massage. Instead of giving one coupon to a customer, I've given the whole sheet to the clients who have been recently laid off from work. Those coupons have been coming in steadily.

Friday has always been the busiest day at my clinic, and we have had to turn people down every Friday who called wanting last-minute appointments. Instead of turning them away, we're now offering them chair massage on a drop-in basis every Friday at $1 per minute. We call it the Stressbuster. People who can't come in and spend the full price for a massage will flock in when they can get relief from stress and tension for $15. Consider offering that if you have a day of the week that is traditionally slow for you. You can use the time in between to catch up on cleaning or paperwork, if you get any time in between. Clients might be lined up all day.

From my own clientele, I have found that the other small business owners are the ones suffering as much, and in many cases more so, than unemployed people. When the self-employed fail, we can't get in the unemployment line - that's one of the hard facts that goes with being an entrepreneur. So I've sent those people who have always been regulars, and who have now had to cut out or cut back on the frequency of their appointments a $10.00 "Economic Stimulus" check (I printed that on them) towards a massage. They have really appreciated it. On a regularly priced $60 massage, I'd rather get $50 than get nothing, and so would you.

It might make you feel better to know that this is the 25th recession that has taken place since 1900, with the average one lasting 11 months, and the worst, three years. Many of us have parents or grandparents who survived the Great Depression. This, too, shall pass. In the meantime, view it as a marketing opportunity.