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	For Immediate Release Date: July 18, 2008 Contact: Cheryl Antier New Hope for Businesses Struggling to Survive the Recession Consumers "tighten their belts" and cut back on unnecessary spending, while gas, food and commodities continue to rise. It's happening everywhere - BBC headlines screamed "Recession Fears Engulfing Europe." Bloomburg reported that "China's Economic Fortunes Swing Towards Recession." And the Wall Street Journal quoted Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's response to a lawmaker's question (during his semi-annual monetary policy testimony Tuesday and Wednesday), when he discussed the "numerous difficulties" facing the economy: "ongoing strains in financial markets, declining housing prices, a softening labor market, and rising prices of oil, food, and some other commodities." A recent report released by Nielson Co. stated that 63% of consumers are now combining shopping trips, eating out less and staying home more to fight rising gasoline prices. It seems like bad news is hitting almost all business owners everywhere they look, across almost all industries. In fact, companies everywhere have also begun to look for cost-saving measures - some are starting to lay off employees, or cutting back on inventory and supplies, and many are even slashing their marketing and advertising budgets. But cutting back on marketing and advertising when times are tough can actually be "bad for business" according to historical data collected through other bad times. In fact, because the competition will also be cutting back, maintaining or increasing your current marketing budget will actually get you a bigger "Share of Voice," which ultimately gives you a higher "Market Share." Studies have found companies that continue to promote their businesses during bad times receive substantial increases in profit when things get better. And the one constant for businesses who want to make more sales is simple: copywriting. Good copywriting can increase the bottom line of any company, whether they're selling B2B or B2C. Businesses all around the world are in luck, because the online "Writer's Business Academy" will be opening its doors and teaching writers everywhere how to market their services in July - so that the businesses who need them so badly right now will be able to find them. "The trick to maintaining - or even increasing your sales during a recession isn't to stop advertising," says Cheryl Antier, CEO of Dream Weaver Enterprises and headmistress of the Writer's Business Academy. "It's to make sure that the advertising you're doing is giving you the highest possible ROI. You want to make sure that the money you're investing in your marketing campaigns is working as hard as possible for you." Antier, a copywriter and international entrepreneur, discovered that writers - including copywriters, ghostwriters, travel writers and authors are also suffering from the recession, and aren't sure how to market themselves and their writing business. "Some writers don't even have Websites" she said. "In this day and age, if you don't have a Website, you don't have a business. And that's why we started the 'Writer's Business Academy. We're going to help writers learn how to build a successful writing business - right from the start. We start with their business plan, move to getting them set up on the Internet with their own Websites and then teach them how to market themselves." And that, insists Antier, is good for business. "If business owners want to stay in business - and ride out the recession - they've got to do these things: Understand what your competition is doing, and anticipate their actions Concentrate on your own core products and services Emphasize the value you provide your customers Don't cut quality Focus on your customers Meet their needs - even if that means changing your offer Make all your communication count If you've got a quality product and you're giving good value, a good copywriter can keep you at the front of your customers' minds and show them the value of spending their hard-earned money with you." she said. The Writer's Business Academy will be opening it's doors to 20 beta testers, who get the full program and access to the business plan site, the social networking site, the members' directory, the ongoing teleseminars, the live one-on-one help and the mastermind groups that regular members will, but during the beta test period, they get it for half price. "Now that's good value for your money," said Dan Shaw, the "technical" wizard behind the curtains of the Writer's Business Academy, and one of its professors. ## END ## \| Return Home \| What's New \| Event Calendar \| Blog \| Help Desk \| Media Center \| Link Exchange \| Student Entrance \|