This just in: the current recession is affecting men more than women.

According to Business Week, May 8, 2008, "Bureau of Labor Statistics: From last November through this April, American women aged 20 and up gained nearly 300,000 jobs. At the same time, American men lost nearly 700,000 jobs.... Men have the misfortune of being concentrated in the two sectors that are doing the worst: manufacturing and construction. Women are concentrated in sectors that are still growing, such as education and health care."

But wait, there's more: "[Yet] while they're getting more jobs, [women's] pay is stagnant. Also, most share households--and bills--with the men who are losing jobs. The 'female' economy can't stay strong for long if the 'male' economy weakens too much."

Obviously, while a recession may affect men and women differently, it affects us all negatively. Still, we can each take some actions to position ourselves in the best possible way to survive a recession--and be ahead of the game when the economy improves.

Dr. Ivan Misner, founder and chairman of BNI, the world's largest business networking organization, says that during an economic downturn "you can actually prosper...while everyone else flounders in fear." He tells about being at a business mixer in the early 1990s, "right in the middle of a nasty recession." As he looked around the room and listened in, he noticed that "[w]hile nearly all were commiserating with one another, very few were actually networking and working on seeking new business." Which, of course, was the purpose of the mixer.

So, while we can't control the economy, we can control our response to undesirable conditions. Dr. Misner goes on to say, "During the last recession, I watched thousands of businesspeople grow and prosper...[b]ecause they consciously made the decision to refuse to participate in a recession. They did so by developing their networking skills and learning how to build their business through word of mouth."

He concludes, "Don't let a bad economy be your excuse for failure. Instead, make it your opportunity to succeed. While others are looking at the problems, those of us looking for opportunities will not only get through a bad economy but will prosper."

Here's a head start on ways to find opportunity:

• Invite people to meetings of your business or trade group.
• Offer to speak at an industry conference.
• Send out a mailing.
• Begin an e-mail campaign.
• Write letters to the editor.
• Start a blog.
• Submit articles to trade publications and online article sites.
• Add an opt-in and an autoresponder series to your website.
• And if you don't have a website--get one.

Stay in front of potential customers. Whatever line of work you're in, people still need your product or service. If you've made your name familiar to people in your target audience, and established yourself as an expert in your niche, you'll be the one they go to when they're ready to buy--instead of your competitors.