Editor's Take: Opportunity Knocking in 2010?

For larger marketers able to weather another mostly forgettable fall/holiday season, it's a great time to plan ahead for 2010. Try to invest in online initiatives and increase catalog and other direct mail contact with customers and prospects. If you manage a store chain, seek out available retail properties that can be had on the cheap. All are worth pursuing now if you have the capital to do so.

On the other hand, smaller, undercapitalized marketers who are hanging on by a thread right now either have to pull out all the stops to survive or look for buyers or investors. There could be a light shining come early 2010, but the challenge of making it there in one piece begins right now.