Wow, it's been a long cold winter. Sales are slow, people are losing their jobs and budgets are getting cut.

We hear ya. Life is tough all over.

But you know what? It will eventually pass, and we all know that it takes a considerable amount of energy (and cost) to start something at a standstill than it does to add momentum on something alread moving (thank you Sir Isaac Newton!).

That's why this month's Hotflash is a kick in the pants to remind you to keep the momentum of your print, web and marketing campaigns going...even in tough times.

I was sitting at a Chinese restaurant the other day and realized that slow times affect everyone. We were the only ones in the entire restaurant and the hostess assigned to watch the dining room had her head in her hands, unresponsive to our need for more water. When I noticed, I didn't get mad, I took the story to the 'haus and we started thinking...

We know that feeling.

We bet you do, too.

When things are brisk, you react more quickly, you multi-task and perform at an optimal level. Hours fly by and momentum is at it's peak. When things slow down, it's harder to react, everything becomes harder and slower moving. Don't let this happen to your brand! Remember: brands are an external reflection of your internal culture. What happens on the inside (apathy) reflects on the external (marketing & sales).

Nobody wants that!

That's why the next couple of Hotflashes are designed to enlighten you about the beauty of strategic design. When you have a company as committed to your success as we are, you'll realize that every obstacle presents killer opportunities to build upon your brand.

The reality is that recessions can be good. They force us to cut the fat, think smarter and solve problems more efficiently. You may be "sans" an internal design department that you once relied upon, but you can probably find one that can give you incredible results for less. You may not have an internal IT department anymore, but you can probably find a supportive creative agency that speaks your language and will help you implement technology in innovative and cost-effective ways.

Luckily for you, Fuelhaus has stayed on top of technology. As always, we're dedicated to helping you build your brand in the most strategic way possible.

Let's say you have a website that you want to be able to update more regularly....but you can't get the budget approved for the $10,000+ price tag involved with implementing a content management system (CMS). Today's technology can give you an interim fix.

Fuelhaus helped First Class Chicago identify the key areas of their site that needed regular updates and developed a custom, PHP/MySQL interface that allows them to make these changes themselves (see image left). We also designed the site so that they can add functionality as their budgets permit.

Strategic design helps you leverage the assets you currently have and implement solutions to help you get where you want to go in better times.

Do you have shrinking direct mail budgets? Yeah. It's expensive...and the < 3% ROI is hard to explain to the bean counters in your office. Have you thought about email marketing?

Email marketing, if done right, can help you reach an extremely targetted audience more often. The resources we use allow you to conduct online surveys, create email newsletters and promotional emails for as less than a penny a piece (no kidding).

This solution rocks because it's affordable...and trackable. Each time you send an email, you can watch the response rate in real time. This helps you compile the data you need when reporting to your bean counters each and every time.

Fuelhaus can help you design and customize your email each month, or we can help you develop a template that you update yourself. We'll also give you the tips you need to make your emails memorable, meaningful and effective. This is the power of strategic design.

When times are tough, people tend to internalize. Companies are no different. We pull in the reigns to control spending, unfortunately, this internalization comes at the expense of innovation. This isbad news.

Today's social networking technologies make internalization a bad word. You need to reach, expand and find new connections. If your company isn't blogging or Twittering...it should be. It's an easy way to keep people informed of what you're doing and following the trends that matter the most to you.

If done right, blogging has an added benefit: it helps your website move up in search engine ranking!

If you haven't started yet, or are wary of the transperancy and/or maintenance involved. Don't fret. We can help you develop a cost-effective strategy to get your started.

And... If you want to jump in and begin watching what's going on in the Twittersphere for your own self...visit our blog. We have a good "beginner's tutorial" to help get you started.

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Watch out next month for great info on Corporate Social Responsibilities Reports (the New Corporate Annual), great creative marketing ideas and a crash course on how to make your email marketing generate killa response.

Until then....Stay lit!