So called Experts will warn you to prepare for the worst - be lean in your spending, look after your customers, but keep on marketing.

This year has seen radical change in the global economy put the chills up everybody's spine, whether you are a positive proactive person, or a negative reactive person. The mortgage crisis of the United States flows on to affect the rest of the world, similar to the saying "If the US sneezes, the rest of the world catches cold". The credit crunch has already hit in the US, as others watch and wait on the other side of the world with a sense of pending doom.

While a formal recession may be declared in due course, the evidence is that there is a slowdown right across all industries. People are tightening their belts and finding ways of becoming more frugal. Business owners and individuals are considering what they need to do if the current economic climate extends beyond 2008. Some economists predict this "period of correction" could go on for ten or more years.

Business consultants are weighing up their options. Some are not responding to calls from their clients simply because each week, or even each day, the economic horizon changes and they are unsure as to what their or their clients' best options are.

It's worth pausing for a moment or two, to listen to those who are old enough to have witnessed similar downturns, or even worse hard times in the past. Some folks are old enough to remember rations during World War 2. Their experience and wisdom can help us deal with our current uncertainty.

When listening to tales of years gone by, a common thread weaves through most testimonials of "get back to basics". Now is the time to reinvigorate customer service. Generate a positive experience for customers and leave them with a sense of worth, both from the product they have purchased as well as personally from the way in which they were served. Show that you care.

It's sad, but we haven't heard the expression "serve customers" for a long time. We have come out of a period of economic boom, during which time we have all experienced a significant lack in real quality and real service, possibly as a result of relaxed attitudes and apathy.

It's important to continue marketing, but if you can't afford a full-blown marketing program, choose cheaper alternatives such as e-mail marketing, blogs, and putting up your own website. Opportunities also exist via the Internet for those needing an alternative way to ensure their financial survival during these testing times. Internet marketing is one such opportunity.