Surviving the Downturn: Be Like Tech

Companies are cutting costs across the board. Times are tough and cutting costs--often in the form of employees--is a necessary evil for firms seeking to survive the downturn. While the net effect of a recession will always be bad for society, it's always important to seek opportunities whenever possible.

One sure-fire way to be successful, even in a downturn, is to make other businesses more efficient. Google showed us yesterday (with its earnings report) that certain tech companies are well-positioned during a downturn because they make more efficient use of companies' financial resources when such resources are scarce. But tech companies aren't alone in their ability to make business more efficient. People can also learn to mimic the operations-enhancing qualities of today's best technology.

First of all, just as companies need to use Google as an accountable, cost-effective source of advertising, companies also need people who know how to harness the power of Google for these purposes. In the fields of search engine optimization and keyword advertising, people with real expertise are hard to come by and will likely serve many businesses well in these tough times. Companies need to make due with fewer people and a smaller marketing budget. Just as search will probably be the last thing cut from marketing budgets, so will search engine marketers. Even if you're not a search engine marketer yourself, simply being cognizant of the safest havens within your field can help you position yourself properly within your company.

That's not to say that by picking up a book on SEO you will suddenly become more valuable to your company. SEO is largely a moving target. It's no longer sufficient to think of just PageRank and keyword density. Also, rankings--in their crudest sense--mean very little. Google's search results are becoming more personalized to the individual web user, thus making an often disparate set of search results for a single keyword phrase. Beyond this personal data, Google will also pay closer attention to the richness of the media your website offers. According to this article (passed along by @SocialMediaGod), websites that currently rank highly could take a nose dive if they fail to offer the video that their rivals provide. To put it bluntly, quality is becoming more and more important. Staying alert on latest SEO trends can help, but one must always be concerned primarily with creating a good user experience.

Back to the point, cost-effective web traffic can be top priority for many businesses that are currently suffering--and such a priority should be trumpeted by employees. Protecting your job might be as simple as championing the right things, whether or not you are the best person to execute on the implied tasks. SEO and paid search are just two ways to voice your opinion. In general, be ambitious and take on responsibility. It's a lot easier to lay off someone who already appears to lay idle.

So, in your work you should mimic the cost-cutting, efficiency-enhancing characteristics of tech. See where the most pressing needs of your firm are and work toward solutions, picking up necessary knowledge and skills along the way.

*Afterthought:

For those who are looking for a job, here is an article on large companies that are actually hiring (passed along by @RJHealy). Unfortunately, many of those same companies are also slowing down their hiring...or even firing, in the case of Microsoft and Google.

For those who have a hard time finding work, I suggest looking into providing consulting services in the meantime. I have found that some firms that can't justify previous levels of full-time employees may still need some help on a part-time or limited-time basis. It might not be the ideal situation, but it might work out for some. (With that said, the recent spike in demand for my services still wouldn't allow me to pay all of my bills on consulting alone.)