The Diva is always looking for an angle. By now I am probably preaching to the choir but when someone restates my thoughts more eloquently and with additional data it bears repeating.

Www.marketwatch.com is an excellent source of news and information all the time but all the more so as the economy continues to falter. As I trolled Marketwatch, I found this excellent piece on how articles and article placement are maintaining the spotlight.

"HOPKINS, Minn., Oct 30, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Turbulence in the global economy may be resulting in the perfect opportunity for marketers striving to control advertising costs while increasing efficiency in reaching potential customers.

"Virtually every advertiser I know has been tightening their belts, reevaluating spending and trying to drive costs out of their marketing programs," says Scott Severson, president of ARAnet, a marketing services provider based in Minneapolis.
Severson says that online advertising has continued its march to capture a greater share of marketing spending even during this period of historic economic uncertainty. He notes that several sources, including Forrester, Jupiter Communications Inc., Zenith Optimedia and

European Information Technology Observatory all predict continued, significant growth of online advertising in 2008 and beyond. And ARAnet's online advertising solution, Adfusion, has increased revenue tenfold over a year ago.

Adfusion is an online service that delivers brand and marketing messages via articles appearing on top Web sites, resulting in qualified consumers who click on clever headlines, read the articles, and then click their way onto Adfusion clients' Web landing pages.
"An economic downturn can actually turn into opportunity because companies are putting their spending under a microscope and figuring out where they can get the best return on investment," Severson says. "It's all about value," he points out. "We see our clients reducing spending on other types of advertising in favor of services where they can measure ROI and accurately track consumer behavior."

Many business analysts are advising that recessionary periods are actually times to punch up advertising to snare market share from competitors. An example is respected Harvard Business School Professor John A. Quelch, who noted in a recent blog: "This is not the time to cut advertising. It is well documented that brands that increase advertising during a recession, when competitors are cutting back, can improve market share and return on investment at lower cost than during good economic times."

But, says Severson, a recession is also a time to be more efficient about advertising by reducing cost per lead and closely measuring results. "Advertisers on our network tell us they appreciate that they can measure the click-through they're getting and quantify the consumer conversions to the desired action -- and that's appealing during these tough economic times. Because they can prove results, they're buying more Adfusion and less of other alternatives," he says..."
 
There is more to the story and it is available on the Marketwatch site. Articles and article placement are an important and appealing area to consider. You can't draw negative traffic so by creating web content, even if you start out on your own, you are headed in the right direction.