Palm Springs Advertising is on an uptick! It's about time!

There is a real sign in the local economy of Palm Springs that business is on an uptick! While I won't say business is booming, I will say there are signs of life. The word I am getting from local advertisers is that business has picked up for the month of October and in comparison with last October, they are about equal in sales and traffic or better. If you recall, November is when sales and traffic started sloughing off last year.

What does this mean? This may mean that the recession is over as most economists have stated that the recession ended in March of this year. That is great news for business owners who have played it safe during the recession in hopes they can open their doors again in season if at all. This also means that it is a good time to start putting together your 2010 campaign if you haven't already started. There are even some clients who are putting together their 2010 as well as their 2011 campaigns.

As I have also noticed local advertisers, online stores and national advertisers putting together their annual advertising campaigns, I notice that there isn't much talk of the usual hiatus or staving off of the advertising during the summer. I feel that most business owners in the Coachella Valley are finally realizing that there are approximately 400,000 people in the Coachella Valley who they can speak with and they are doing it using the largest and most effective radio group in the desert, Desert Radio Group.

If you believe that the reason for better business in October or even November is because of the snowbirds, you may be wrong. The snowbirds, the term used for the people up north in the colder climates who come and vacation during the winter, have been trickling down but local business owners are telling me that they haven't seen a whole lot of the snowbirds back down here yet. The explanation may be in the fact that there hasn't been a deep freeze up north yet as that usually sends them down in droves.

As a result of the lack of snowbirds in the valley, I have a good feeling that we may be in the midst of an economic recovery. Now, don't get me wrong, there were a lot of job losses during this recession and we aren't going to bounce back right away but what I have seen so far is a good indicator that the worst is over. We are finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel of what is probably going to be dubbed the worst economic downturn our country has seen since "The Great Depression."

It is time that the Palm Springs area gets back to focusing on the local consumer's needs and looking at the tourists needs as a bonus. The gameplan for any business owner at this point should be to maximize their image through branding and to increase traffic to their business. The Coachella Valley is full of people who are looking for quality products and services to spend their money on. Focus on the local consumer with an aggressive advertising campaign speaking to the consumer about what their needs are and soon we will have a bustling economy again and be looking at that nasty old recession in the rear view mirror.