We saw the effects of this trend shortly following September 11, as families canceled vacations, postponed larger purchases and shortened their holiday buying lists. Industrial giants slashed payrolls and cut spending in an attempt to stay afloat during the economic downturn.

If really large businesses find themselves in trouble, what can small and home based businesses do when times are tough?

There is a way.

If we have the discipline and the desire, we can actually re-focus our businesses more quickly and easily than the big companies. We just need to understand which of our products and services could be considered "essential" and then base our marketing efforts around them.

For example, hands-on-healers could emphasize the cost-effectiveness of learning how to heal our own sore throats. Nutrition experts could focus on building the immune system's defenses against stress-induced illnesses. Counselors might advertise personality and aptitude testing for improving career choices. Bookstores could promote more heavily their self-help books and classes, focused on practical, "how-to" solutions.

It might be useful to look at the essential needs of humans, to get an idea of what motivates us to act, to change, or to buy products and services. Psychologist Abraham Maslow suggested that we each have a "needs hierarchy" which essentially tracks our life cycle from birth to maturity.

I've used a ladder analogy to picture this hierarchy because we're not motivated by the "higher" needs until the basic ones have been filled. On the other hand, all of the needs are recurring, so we're up and down the ladder quite a bit.

See if you can relate the major benefit of your product or service to one or more of these essential human needs. Then re-focus your marketing - your wording, your look, your positioning statement - so that it is clear just how you can help a person have his or her needs met. What psychological "button" does your message push to get the attention of those you can help?

Marketing and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs:

(1) Survival is the first basic need -- food, water, clothing and shelter.

Health food stores might promote toxin-free products to a population that has recently learned to fear toxins. Clothing stores could place longer-lasting, natural-fiber apparel in the forefront as essentials for cost-conscious, health-conscious shoppers. Realtors don't just sell houses, they provide shelter for families.

(2) Comfort and security sit on the second rung of the needs ladder. After the basic requirements of survival are met, we naturally want to preserve and enhance what we have.

Here's where furniture, home improvement, insurance and home security become issues. How can you offer security and protection from physical and emotional harm to people who are concerned about terrorism, job loss and the future in general?

Think about specific personal or business security issues that you can solve and build your marketing around them. Health practitioners might focus on keeping clients healthy so they can better ward off airborne bacteria, not to mention mail-borne ones. Water filter and air purifier businesses can emphasize the "clean" and "pure" aspects of their products, now that people are more likely to appreciate these benefits. Life insurance agents provide peace of mind for families who might lose a breadwinner.

With an uncertain economy, we are more likely to cut back on the comforts and luxuries that we might normally feel entitled to. Travel agents, restaurants, retreats and spas could re-focus toward the business market, or emphasize events that continue regardless of economic conditions - such as weddings and anniversaries.

(3) After people have had their survival and safety needs more or less met, they are ready to give and receive love, to make friends, and to belong to a group or community.

Are you a teacher? Emphasize the nurturing environment of your classroom. Do you operate a singles group? Use testimonials to demonstrate a sense of "belonging." Spiritual centers can be particularly important resources as people with like ideas naturally group together in times of crisis. Tell people who you are and how to reach you.

(4) If we've climbed this far up our needs ladder, we find ourselves wanting to be respected - we are building not only self-respect but our reputation and status in the community.

We are learning to master our careers, establish our autonomy, and understand our usefulness in the greater scheme of things. Comfort and security are "kicked up a notch" and so are our teachers, mentors and service providers. We are fine-tuning ourselves in body, mind and spirit, and look to learn from those who have already "made it."

What do you do that can add to a person's "approval rating" in his or her community - whether home or business? Can you provide status symbols, teach poise or public speaking skills, create a standout marketplace image? Can you teach a person how to run a business successfully? 

(5) Moving to the fifth rung, in education, we want the higher teachings; in healing we want to feel balanced in all our bodies; in our spiritual yearnings we will settle for nothing less than Divine Connection. Does your business offer services at these levels? If so - say so! People are looking for you.

If we've made it to the fifth rung, we are ready to "live our real lives." The need for self-actualization and inner meaning is not always recognized until we have endured a period of discontentment. We are here for a purpose and, try as we might, we won't achieve real self-fulfillment until we recognize and activate our purpose.

How can your business help people do this? As a personal example, in 2001 I wrote a niche marketing course that shows home based business owners how to re-focus their business on the passion and purpose of their life, in order to create harmony between personal and business life.