The answer is short and to the point: You better or else! While it is easy to find gloom and doom in today's economy,you absolutely have to sit back and wonder why the guy down the street is getting the customers that you should be getting.
What is he doing different? Survival is not just for the sportsman in the wild.
In 2009, survival is for small business owners and if your business is just squeaking by, lack of promotion may put you among the dead in six months.
Face it, everyone is fishing from the same pond when it comes to customers and it takes a little ingenuity to mark your territory.

• Promote products and services in new ways that grab attention and draw potential customers in your direction.
  Depending on your particular business, try leveraging your existing client base and use them to draw in new business.
  Incentives work!
• Stay in their face! Sounds a bit unprofessional but constant reminders keeps your business a step ahead of the competition.
  Try newsletters and email to promote new and existing products and services.
  Just remember a few important rules: do it professionally, briefly and with a comfortable frequency.
  You do not want to look like a spammer.
  We all get junk mail overload now in our inbox.
  
• Alternative advertising.
  We live in the digital age so why not go digital? Get on the bandwagon with digital display advertising.
  There are so very few avenues of advertising that can reach a targeted audience for little investment like digital advertising.
  If you are new to digital advertising, it is simply the use of LCD television displays that run real time advertising to a targeted audience such as in a restaurant or hotel lobby or wherever potential customers converge.
  Shop owners are attracted to hosting a digital display because they can promote their own products while customers wait in line.
  Moreover, while they are waiting in line at the local eatery, other local small businesses can promote their services too.
  
• Be patient.
  Forget get rich quick solutions.
  They do not work in the real world.
  Most small business owners are honest and reliable people who work harder now than they ever did when they worked for a big corporation.
  Take small steps and test each method.
  Try to avoid making long-term advertising commitments that you may not be able to back out of or modify.
  You are only putting money in the pocket of the advertising salesperson.
  
• Do not be afraid to survey.
  Ask your current customers what draws them to your product or service.
  Ask them for new ideas.
  They may be your best source of information.
  
• Websites are a fabulous way of advertising or promoting products or services and everyone has one.
  However, websites can also be a negative if you fail to update the site regularly or fail to provide even the most basic information such as where you are and how to reach you.
  Making a website cumbersome to navigate can drive traffic AWAY from you.
  You only have from a few seconds to most always less than a minute to grab and keep the visitor's attention.
  Have your website done professionally or spend as much as you can afford to make a good presentation.
  If you cannot spend the money - do not put up a haphazard site.
  No one goes to a job interview in torn jeans and shirt - not unless they are trying to offend or make a negative statement.
  Do not drive traffic away from your website.
  It is your job interview.