This is the first of the WealthNet Wisdom posts. In addition to the educational content we regularly add to the WealthNet blog, my goal is offer tips and insights that will help virtually any business grow cash flow.

“The worse business gets, the more we invest in marketing.” -Herb Kelleher co-founder and former chairman and CEO of Southwest airlines.

While I may not have exactly nailed the quote, hopefully you get the point. Yes, I know we are in a very tough economic period. But this too shall pass. Might it get worse? Perhaps. Will it get better eventually? I believe so. But in the interim, what are business owners to do? My humble opinion is market like crazy and grow your cash flow.

Every day I talk to at least a handful of business owners over the phone and in person. Sometimes I come away really inspired by what I learn and hear. Other times, it’s down right silly.

For example, yesterday I heard a ridiculous comment. This particular business owner remarked, “Business is terrible right now. We’re just going to ride it out.” Another told me in an email, “We’re really not able to do much marketing right now due to our budget.”

Are you kidding me? My only thought is, “Great. Why don’t you just vacate the office and lock the doors?” Move one. Lay off the rest of the crew. Go ahead and give up. The really sharp competitors of yours will eat your lunch and grab as much market share as they can capture while everyone else sticks their head in the sand to wait this out.

On a more inspiring note, I talked yesterday at length with an real estate entrepreneur who is getting his head handed to him by this market. While he does his absolute best to maintain his spirit and positive attitude, the sharks are circling his doors. But you know what I love about him? He’s still looking for new opportunities in his field. And it’s just a matter of a healthy business perspective while the media hammers us with more bad news.

So what can we all be doing to grow our businesses and cash flow without busting the bank. (Pardon the pun.)

1. Keep the right attitude. If you need inspiration and can avoid the Ostrich Outlook, get online and read about the Inc. 500 for 2008. Each year Inc. Magazine profiles businesses from a wide variety of industries that, at least last year, are growing from 300% to 3000%. That’s right. Serious growth. Will there be similar success stories for 2009 and beyond. Yes.

2. Focus on improving conversions of leads to prospects and prospects to customers. While many markets have dwindled, there’s still market share for every business to capture. So if you’re focused on generating a solid flow of new leads, focus on what you can do to improve conversions. One of the best ways to do this is to hyper focus on your positioning and market with education. Know what your customer wants. Enroll prospects through the sales process. Educate with a blog. Send a white paper or make it available as a download to build your database. Make some customer service calls and get some new referrals. Just keep the pipeline full. And make the best possible effort to do what it takes to convert leads to customers.

3. Keep marketing and measure your results. Clearly define your ideal target. Reevaluate your positioning and what you offer. (The market for pain relievers is huge compared to that for vitamins. So keep than in mind when you consider your positioning, marketing messages, and value propositions)

For example, I just worked out a great arrangement to generate 2500 direct mail pieces to businesses promoting my “Market While You Sleep” campaign. I just hired a sales assistant to make 8 hours of follow up calls every day. Her goal is to set three to four appointments for us each day.

Leverage the Internet. Drive more traffic to your website. Optimize your site so you convert visitors to leads and prospects. Earn permission to market. Market with education. And follow up like crazy with an enrollment approach instead of silly sales tactics. No one likes to be sold. But people love to buy. Even though that may be hard to believe right now.

WealthNet Partners is in the business of helping business owners grow cash flow. We teach the art of business development. We enhance Internet and traditional marketing strategies. We automate follow up. We train and coach sales people and sales managers. And business is booming because there are still tons of business owners out there who understand that economic times like this present a significant opportunity to capture market share.

The worse business gets, the more you need to market.