For example, I recently spoke with a network marketer selling nutritional products. She also works with a health club that pays her a commission for each new member she signs up. Over one third of her income is generated by offering related product to her customers.

2. Ask Them To Help You Find New Customers

Ask your customers for referrals. Reward them for each referral that becomes a customer. Your reward could be a discount on their next order or a special bonus item. Announce your referral program to customers with low cost communication tools like email, postcards or personal phone calls.

OFFER SOME "BIG TICKET" ITEMS

Some of your potential customers are not affected by a poor economy -- or they benefit from it. Others may place a higher value on your products or services when economy is bad. These prospects are willing spend much more with you than your average customer. Don't forfeit this income. Find or create additional products or services similar to those you now offer ...but with a much higher price.

For example, one online marketer recently packaged her latest "how to" book with several eBooks and a "members only" website. She priced this special package about 8 times more than average size order placed by her customers.

Her number of sales declined when economy slowed down. But her sales volume and net profit are still growing. The dollars produced by a small number of these "big ticket" sales more than replaced dollars she lost because of fewer average size sales.

Your business can thrive and grow during an economic slowdown if you make it recession-proof. Use these 3 proven marketing tactics to start recession-proofing your business.

If Amazon Can't Make This Happen, Can You?

No way. If you have a site which lacks focus, begin cutting stuff left and right. Amazon's only hope of survival is to drop all products except books. While content of your site may not lead to such a clear cut conclusion, begin searching now for deadwood, stuff of interest only to off-target visitors. Find it, then cut it, for benefit of entire site.

What To Look For

Ah, hah. There's a piece of stuff. That Amazon.Com button. Unless you are determined to support a losing battle, you are likely hoping to make bucks with this. How much did you make off that button last month? Five bucks would be unusually high. But regardless of income, trash that button and narrow your site focus by at least this much.

A valid purpose to link to Amazon would be to make it easy for your visitors to check out a book you are certain they would love to know about. In making such a link, make it directly to book. I surely don't want anybody thinking even for an instant that a buck in profit off a book means anything to me.

Over Crowded Sites Abound

You see lots of sites overstuffed with all sorts of things. You can probably see in seconds several things that should go. That banner exchange. That listing of affiliate programs. And you can probably see a need for a clearer statement of what site is all about, right up top.

It's far more difficult to look at your own site with objectivity you have when looking at that of a stranger for we tend to fall in love with our creations. And we become accustomed to things we have seen often, even if we had reservations when we put them up.

Get around this by asking others to take a hard look at your site. Friends are hesitant to knock, but give it a try. Ask each to find three things (three to keep it simple) that should go, be improved or added. Further, as you surf, look for people offering a free site evaluation. Take up every offer you can find.

Be Tops In A Niche And Ignore All Else

It's impossible to be king of all hills. Amazon is learning this. Hopefully you already see futility of this approach, that it is doomed to failure. If you have not yet realized this, your site may need a serious overhaul. Whatever case, see how much deadwood you can cut from your site. A little bit of pruning can bring about solid improvement.