This article is extremely helpful and your transparency is truly appreciated.

We, like you, are thinking about the way we approach and sustain our existing business as well as the opportunities that come our way. We’re optimistic though – that especially in times of economic slowdown – companies will look at public relations as a cost-effective and credible way to reach their intended audience, build their brand and maintain their reputation in this ever-changing world.

Thank you for your thought-provoking posts.

In terms of effects felt of the downturn, we have a somewhat reverse experience and we’re now swamped with work. In a sense this may be because we’ve spent the last two years already in a pretty tight circumstance while we built up resources for starting our new business. Seeds planted during that time seem to be now (coincidentally perhaps) starting to shoot up.

I will add though that a key task during this start up phase has been to survey the landscape and target specific niches. In our case, we took on a two pronged approach, focusing on both usability design and a particular technical service known as ‘Drupal theming’. This proved to be a good choice and that is the real basis of the new business.

Being in the usability business I am very aware of the fact that user experience design is often seen as an ‘extra’ expense. But the simple truth is that designing for usability can save a great deal of time, money and energy for all stakeholders.

It is also an interesting coincidence that just a week or so before the markets dropped we re-launched our business web site with a new slogan “Profitability Through Usability”. This may take on a larger significance in these tougher times.