Anita Campbell of Small Business Trends

There’s so much bad news out there about the economy that I had to stop my regularly scheduled programming (the article I had scheduled to write) to talk about something more important.

That “something” is a crucial element of entrepreneurial success: maintaining a positive state of mind. And protecting that positive state of mind from influences that make you uncertain and less confident.

You see I live and run my business in the battleground swing state of Ohio. With the election going on, the drumbeat of negative doom-and-gloom has reached unbearable proportions.

Let me give you one example: we are bombarded with political ads on TV night and day. I am not exaggerating with the word “bombarded.” Anyone from Ohio or another battleground swing state knows what I mean.

Most of the ads emphasize the economy. They talk about how bad things are. We hear an Obama ad, then a McCain ad, then an ad by a group supporting Obama, then one supporting McCain’s platform, and so on — all back to back. Nearly every single commercial break. read more

Throughout this entire credit crisis, I’ve had the bizarre feeling of being caught in a Star Trek episode. Like the episode of Star Trek where they’re exploring the Delta Triangle (the deep space equivalent of the Bermuda triangle). Captain Kirk and crew happen upon an alternate universe containing a vast graveyard of space vessels and inhabited by the descendants of people from the original vessels. The starship Enterprise is caught there until they manage to generate enough power to pull the ship out of the alternate dimension back to the normal universe.

Just like Captain Kirk and crew, I feel like there are alternate universes out there as they relate to the current global credit crisis.

You have Wall Street, which has gone through some manic trading in the past weeks. Through a series of events that the average American hardly understands, the investment banking industry more-or-less disappeared from the American landscape overnight. Central Banks and government authorities around the world are meeting and working together in unprecedented levels. And we’ve seen the government intervene into the U.S. banking system in ways not seen in the better part of a century. With each passing day we look for signs that the world credit crisis is calming, but it’s been a wild ride.

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In recent weeks as the financial crisis hit world credit markets and Wall Street, another dramatic scene was playing out — this one in Silicon Valley.

Techcrunch, VentureBeat and others have been reporting on the lowering of VC confidence, layoffs by startups, and “batten-down-the-hatches” warnings by investors and VCs.

One Techcrunch report predicts the end of Web 2.0. Others are not quite sure it’s the end of Web 2.0. Still, everyone seems to agree that change is in the air for Silicon Valley.

Kara Swisher at Boomtown makes this prediction about Web 2.0 startups:

” … most will likely fizzle away quietly, with no exits in sight as the economy weakens and puts a vise grip on companies that cannot survive the very tough financial road ahead.

That means the popular Web 2.0 maxim of ‘growth before profits’ is in for a very bumpy ride.”

She also goes on to report layoff rumors at Internet giants like Yahoo and eBay, not to mention various unnamed startups. read more

For many small businesses — mine included — the effects of the credit crisis playing out around us day by day, hour by hour, have not changed what we do. Many of us have felt no impact — at least not so far.

Oh, sure, we might have started to feel a little pressure with the stock market results. The stock market is one of the most visible symbols, because we see every 3-digit drop plastered across TV screens with red arrows and screaming headlines. And we start to see the impact in our IRA and SEP portfolios, as they experience sharp drops as the market drops. It’s hard not to be affected just a little by the fear driving the stock market.

However, most of us will do what we always have done: ride it out.

We go about our businesses everyday, for the most part oblivious to high finance. Wall Street seems far removed from the reality of our daily business activities. What happens on Wall Street, we feel, stays on Wall Street.

In a way it is surreal. For some of us, our reality and the condition of the economy are two different things. It feels like some weird other dimension out of a Star Trek episode. As one business owner confessed to me the other day, “I know the economy is bad. You’re confronted with it every time you turn on the news or pick up the paper. But honestly I haven’t felt it in my business.”

Maybe you’ve started to feel the effects of the credit crisis … or maybe you haven’t. Either way, I expect that you’ll do what small business owners always do during challenging economic times — ride it out. Our blood, sweat, treasure and tears are tied up in our businesses. We have employees and their families relying on our businesses for their livelihoods. We’ll put our heads down, dig in, watch our bottom lines, get more aggressive at sales and marketing, and do what we need to do to get through it. We will do it because we don’t have any other choice BUT to ride it out.

The American Express OPEN Small Business Monitor recently conducted its semi-annual survey of small business owners. And it seems that small business concerns about the economy hit a 7-year high. The survey is thorough and brings to light details about what’s really going on inside the heads of small business owners.

Interestingly, the survey was taken in August, before the events of the last several weeks and the financial crisis.

I’m not at all surprised by the heightened concerns about the economy. I am on press lists for a wide variety of small busines surveys. One thing I have noticed among all of them is a lessening of optimism about the economy over the past 6 to 12 months. You’d have to be on another planet not to be aware of a weakening economy and have concerns as a business owner.

Still, we small business owners are a resilient bunch. Let’s take a look at some specific findings:

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We can all use a little help every once in a while, especially in times like these. If your small business is searching for marketing and sales tips to not only survive, but thrive, during economic downturns, you’ve come to the right place.

We’ve created this roundup of 10 resources to help you market and sell — and thrive and be successful — during tight economic cycles:

- The National Federation of Independent Business offers solid suggestions for surviving economic slumps. They include: offering complementary products or services such as lower priced items; looking for bargains from vendors you buy from that add to long-term ROI; and stepping up marketing efforts by using search engine optimization tactics to build online awareness and supplying information to journalists and bloggers for publicity purposes.

- Marketo’s Jon Miller provides 7 strategies for B2B marketing during a recession that includes a focus on lead generation, landing page optimization and appealing to the nervous buyer — just to name a few.

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With all the things going on in the economy now, you may be wondering if your bank deposits are safe.

The short answer for most people: “yes.” You have the backing of the Federal government, through the FDIC, to guarantee accounts up to $100,000.

However, it’s important not to just sit back and assume everything is covered. Depending on the amount of your deposits and the type of accounts you have, there are some important things you need to know. You may even be entitled to more coverage than $100,000, depending on how your accounts are held.

We’ve rounded up some resources abut FDIC insurance to inform you and bring peace of mind. Let’s take a look:

- Walter Updegrave, Money Magazine senior editor explains what is and what isn’t covered from bank failure in an article at CNN Money.com. “FDIC insurance applies only to bank deposits, which would include money in checking accounts, savings accounts, NOW accounts, money-market accounts and CDs. But this insurance does not cover investments that are not deposits, such as mutual funds, stocks, bonds or Treasury bills or annuities, even if you bought these investments at the bank.”

- Suze Orman, Host “The Suze Orman Show,” tells what you need to know about FDIC insurance in an article at CNBC. She goes through various scenarios combining different account limits and explains how to maximize coverage in some circumstances, beyond $100,000.

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SurePayroll, which does a nice job pulling together statistics about the small business market, conducted a survey on Monday, September 30th, of 262 small businesses. The first question was:

“Do you believe the federal government is making the right decision in bailing out financial firms on Wall Street?”

They sent me a link to the raw survey results — below is the actual response for that question in the survey. Talk about evenly divided! 50% in favor. 50% against.

To some degree the question was worded such that it tended to evoke a negative even cynical response. Still, I know that small business owners are divided on this subject, just from my recent discussions with people.

What’s especially interesting are some of the verbatim write-in responses to the survey. They’re eye-popping and revealing. Here are some of the write-in comments:

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