Marketing Like Crazy

Joy Gendusa maneuvered through the nearly impossible during the recession and anemic recovery of the past five years.

The founder and owner of PostcardMania in Clearwater not only survived the worst parts with only a modest decline in revenue one year, but has been growing revenue the last two years at a firm focused almost exclusively on marketing -- one of the first things cut by businesses and one of the last they restart.

Putting her money where her business is, she poured cash into her own marketing at about $50,000 per week to generate leads, even while she was committed to not laying off any employees.