Here's some great advice from Rand Fishkin at SEOMoz on how best to weather the current financial storm.  

Snap Up Cheap Talent - if the job market does turn south, that spells opportunity to grab some great people, often at less exorbitant salaries than in an up-tempo economy. Some smart startups in NYC are already jumping on the tech talent lost in the last week.

Invest in Easy-to-Test, High ROI Projects - Rather than taking the "let's sit this one out" approach, I'd suggest taking a slightly riskier route and investing in projects where you can quickly and easily determine potential ROI. Stagnation is not only bad for business, it's bad for the economy as a whole, and those who generally come out on top in business as a whole are the same ones with the guts and brains to invest in smart projects when times are tough.

Market in Trackable Ways - Networking can be tough to measure, as can brand marketing, TV ads, print media and other non-electronic forms of advertising. If you're going to cut back, do so in these arenas and re-invest somewhere you can watch your money grow in exceptional detail... like SEO, PPC, E-mail marketing and web advertising. With every click tracked, you'll know exactly what you're spending and how much it's earning you.

Watch your Burn Rate - With investment and even credit hard to come by, it's a good time to review the soundness of your financial picture and outlook. Check your balance sheet and cash flow statements and be sure you can weather 6-12 bad months. If you can't, you've got two options - invest in growing quickly or find ways to cut expenses. The former may seem riskier, but if done right, it's much more appealing and potentially smarter than trimming budgets and people (as you're often also cutting into sales when you scale back).

Make sure Your Business is Your Passion - This is always true, but in times of economic turmoil when you might have to work longer, harder hours and miss out on some of life's luxuries, the best cure is to love what you do. Chris Anderson even gives you a better shot at succeeding than the pros :-)

Start Your Own Business - The ease with which anyone can start an online business makes it an incredibly attractive prospect and if your'e reading SEOmoz, you probably already know a hundred ways to earn a living off the web. Find your niche and dive in - it's a surprisingly low cost investment, even if it doesn't work out.

Read more on What Does the Stock Market Implosion Mean for Your Online Business?

Remember Alliance Title, the company that grew from 25 employeees to more than 2,000 in nine years and then abruptly closed its doors in December?

This is apparently just a formality, but the California Department of Insurance is holding a hearing today on the "Cease and Desist" order it filed against the company Feb. 21. According to the order, the company's net worth was NEGATIVE $50.6 million as of Nov. 30, and Alliance Title had a working capital deficit of $22.1 million.

Claiming the company is "in a financially hazardous condition" California regulators ordered Alliance Title to stop writing any new businesss, barred it from transfering or removing assets from the state, and forbid it to "destroy or conceal the location of any books, records or accounts."

A new report out today by Demotech Inc. estimates that nationwide, title insurers saw revenue fall 14 percent between 2006 and 2007, to $14 billion -- the biggest year-over-year decrease since 1995.

California and Florida, which together account for more than one-fourth of title insurance premiums nationwide, saw even bigger revenue decreases -- 23 and 30 percent respectively, Demotech said.

Alliance Title seems to have had other problems associated with its rapid growth. The company and its parent, Mercury Companies Inc., were sued over their recruitment of employees from rivals, with Mercury agreeing in July to pay LandAmerica $12.5 million in one case and facing an $8.3 million judgement in another (see Inman News story).

Or shall we say, Client 9?

Will you be remembered as a friend of consumers, or the sworn enemy of mortgage lenders and title insurers? Will bond insurers sink or swim without your interest (or interference) in their affairs? Will the bill you rolled out just last week to overhaul oversight (or put the nail in the coffin) of mortgage lending in New York ever see the light of day?

Will they snicker at you behind your back as you walk by, saying, "There goes George Fox. Or shall we say, Client 9?"

What will the goodwill write-downs be on the Spitzer brand?

The Wall Street Journal today notes that while Hillary Clinton has been holding up Countrywide Financial Corp. and CEO Angelo Mozilo as epitomizing misplaced priorities and values of lenders during the housing boom, one of her allies thinks she's wrong on that count.

Former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros -- Hillary's husband gave him that job, and he's been campaigning for her in Texas -- tells the Journal that "Countrywide is not the Enron that some people have described it as."

Of course, Cisneros would have to say something to that effect, since he made more than $5 million sitting on Countrywide's board of directors before resigning in October, the Journal reports.

Another prominent Democrat, former California Treasurer Kathleen Brown (pictured), resigned from her seat on the Countrywide board last March (see previous post).

Kathleen Brown's brother, Jerry, is California's attorney general. So far, Jerry Brown hasn't made much of a fuss about mortgage lending practices during the boom -- at least not compared to his counterpart in New York, Andrew Cuomo, who's investigating just about everybody who's had anything to do with originating mortgages and packaging them into securities sold to Wall Street investors.

Have no fear, the fearless shall thrive. That was one of the main takeaways I had from Real Estate Connect NY last week. The news of the housing downturn isn't pretty right now but there are people out there growing and seizing opportunities to grow.

It usually takes me a few days to allow information that's thrown full force during Connect to sink in, marinate a little and then finally make sense. With that, I give you my closing thoughts on the New York conference last week:

The market is cyclical

The market at the national level is in the dumps and there's really no way around that. But while some local markets account for much of the correction at the national level, other markets or market segments are sailing on business as usual, seemingly untouched by the credit crunch and subprime mess.

Prices will need to come down more in some of these markets where prices soared to outrageous levels during the boom because first-time buyers are having trouble getting in, a problem that dominoes through the entire local market. (First-time buyers can't get in, there's no one able to buy the move-up buyer's house, so move-up buyer has problems selling, keeping them from buying, and so forth.)

At the end of the day, though, people are still buying and selling homes. Marriage, divorce, babies, new jobs -- all of the usual suspects which tend to trigger a home sale or purchase are still part of people's lives. We're just not seeing sellers who don't need to move right now selling and buyers who can't afford buying.

Some companies have already gone under and more likely will shutter. But it's not the end of real estate sales forever. Buying a home is still an essential part of the American Dream for most people.

In my opinion, we have more of a credit problem than a housing problem (again, at the national level). Those markets hit particularly hard by foreclosures right now definitely have a housing problem and it will take some time and critical leadership to get these cities back on track. But so far, at the national level, the damage from this correction resides mostly in credit markets.

Another interesting point made at the event was a close look at the homeowners going into foreclosure -- something I think anyone in real estate should pay attention to. John Vogel, a super smart real estate professor at Dartmouth, told us that these 2 million homeowners expected to go through foreclosure aren't who you'd expect them to be. They're not all speculators, victims of predatory lending or uneducated people who borrowed way more than they should have, according to Vogel. They're families who wanted to settle into homes and neighborhoods. (Read more on Vogel's presentation, "Foreclosure fix: 'The Last Chance Mortgage.'")

No room for the old world anymore

It's the end of the old world, but not the end of the new world. Open your eyes and get down to business. The bottom line: Agents who were around before this bust will be around after this correction if they want to be.

What is the new world?

The new world enables agents to be much more proactive online without having to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on template Web sites and paid search advertising. Be creative with blogging, social networks, online real estate forums and you can easily reach a new crowd of buyers who won't be shy about Googling your name before they agree to do business with you. Impress Web surfers with the content you create and the knowledge you show in various capacities where they may be searching for info.

Try on a lot of outfits but only wear what is most flattering and comfortable

There's a ton of stuff out there -- blogs, widgets, map mashups, virtual flyer services, listing syndication services, free listings marketing, podcasting, video sites and services, lead generation services, lead management services.

Try on a lot of stuff -- try Facebook, LinkedIn, Wordpress, Google Base, Craigslist, Jott, Utterz, to name a few -- whatever you have an urge to test, test it out and see if it works for you. If it doesn't work for you, then don't use it anymore. If it's not helping you sell real estate then why are you spending time or money on it?

Be honest and real

Today's consumers are used to transparency in many of their other purchase experiences. They consider buying a digital camera, for instance, and have unlimited access to consumer experiences with this product. They're looking for straight information without the gloss, without the frosting and without the sales pitch. Approach them honestly and personably with your online marketing and outreach on various networks and they will trust you. Break that trust and there's no turning back.

There's my elevator pitch of Inman's Connect NY 2008. We're in a down cycle. There's plenty of opportunity, but a long ride ahead. Take the time to invest in your business now and you won't be lost while the correction rides out.

HomeVestors, a company known for its "We Buy Ugly Houses" slogan, sponsored an "Ugliest House of the Year" contest.

A windowless shack in Sarasota, Fla., took first place. Most buyers would not rush in for a tour of a property with this description: "The filth, trash, and remnants of current and prior squatters, odors, holes in the roof, fallen walls, floors and torn-apart plumbing made the house totally repulsive, a health threat and a menace to the community."

The second-place "winner" was a home in Fort Worth, Texas. The report on that home: "WOW, what a smell. Trash, dead animals, dirty toilets, bed pans, cigarettes, filth, and body odor are just a few of the scents. I have always told myself to ignore the smells and try to smell money."

Got $375? "Dr. Dani" wants to teach you the ins and outs of foreclosures. While get rich foreclosure seminars are a dime a dozen, what's a little surprising about this one is who's offering it -- the University of California, Irvine Extension.

The six-week course is taught by Danielle Babb, whose latest book, "Finding Foreclosures," is required reading for the course (along with a subscription to RealtyTrac).

According to a press release from the university, the course is perfect for families whether they "simply want to move into a better neighborhood at the same price, or are looking to invest in a market known for being more stable than playing the stocks – buying in at today’s low foreclosure prices can be very lucrative and exciting.”

The class description says Babb is the author of four books, "focusing on the use of technology in various industries." One of those books is "Make Money Teaching Online: How to Land Your First Academic Job, Build Credibility, and Earn a Six-Figure Salary." According to her faculty bio at "American Sentinel University" -- one of those online schools presumably providing that six-figure salary -- Babb earned her PhD at Capella University, another virtual institution of higher learning.

Get a free taste of Dr. Dani's foreclosure wisdom at the blog she maintains with Finding Foreclosures co-author Bill Nazur.

So Tuesday night's "Beer w/Bloggers" bash at SOMA hot spot the Thirsty Bear turned out to be a little too much of a succes for its own good. There was barely enough room to turn around in the upstairs room reserved for the event, and the crowd spilled downstairs into the bar. This made working the room a little harder (isn't that why we were all there?) but also made it easier to transcend the superficial and engage in some protracted conversations with whomever you happened to be jammed up against.

By the time I made it to the top of the stairs, Sarah Field and Nicole Nicolay ("NikNik" to friends) of MyTechOpinion had the undivided attention of Transparent Real Estate's Pat Kitano, before Trulia's Jamie Glenn horned in (that's Sarah, Nicole and Jamie in the pic up top). The noise levels were approaching those of a stadium rock concert, and I was unable to discern exactly what it is that MyTechOpinion is all about. But Sarah handed me a business card that provided the site's URL and a four-word description, "Technology for Real Estate."

Marlow Harris, author of 360Digest (left, with Michael Stark) was also frustrated by the noise level when Zillow's Drew Meyers hopped on a pool table to make an announcement. We were all under the impression that Drew had some important news to share, but the only part of his message that seemed to have been widely communicated was that the beers were on Zillow (that's Drew and ActiveRain Network's Matt Heaton swilling Zillow pints, below). "What did he say? You're supposed to be a reporter," Marlow chastised me.

I figured Drew was spreading the word about Zillow's new blog, where technology experts will teach real estate professionals how to make the best of the Internet (see Greg Swann's take on this), Later, when the crowd started thinning out to go to another bash hosted by Trulia, I was able to make my way over to Drew and confirm that's what he was talking about. He directed me to Zillow's own explanation of the site.

It wasn't just the crowd drowning Drew out but Michael Stark of LookForProperty.com, who was telling me about a magazine article he'd read on his flight to Connect. The article, about Seattle real estate, had mentioned Marlow, and Michael said he'd wondered if they'd have a chance to meet. Marlow said Michael was one of the first to recognize the value of exchanging links to boost search engine rankings in the '90s. She said another of Michael's sites, NEORealEstate.com, was "my very first link" to her own site, SeattleDreamHomes.

Connect is an industry convention where people have two main goals: find out what other people are doing that is working for them, and pitch (or publicize) their own services to prospective clients. What you hear from folks is often pretty carefully scripted -- especially if there's a lot of time, money and effort behind it. 

But there's also a lot of genuine passion, particularly on the part of the indie guys like Michael -- who bent my ear about how far the real estate industry has to go before it taps into the power of the Internet. "It's a vertical of pygmies," he said. The upside, he said, is that "a lot of people who are nobodies can come in and make a dent."

I also bumped into another passionate guy, Ken Horst of Agentopolis. Horst is a mortgage broker who's created a site where real estate agents post their bios and upload listings and are rated by consumers (Well, sort of. The agents get veto power over the reviews, which makes it a little dubious from the consumer's perspective). Horst said he's inked a deal with a major blog provider that will give clients the ability to blog through the site. He's also using some of the same technology that allows agents to upload listings to Agentopolis to get a new site off the ground, MLSmaps.com, that uses WolfNet Technologies' map-based search tool MapTracks. 

Horst's other projects include FirstHomeGuide.com, a site geared at first-time homebuyers that will tap real estate agents to provide "hyperlocal" content such as advice for buyers.

Sam Zell buys the Tribune group of media assets? You bet. Or would you? Well, Zell is. The man well known for recognizing opportunity in failing businesses sees something many do not recognize in traditional media. And, he knows real estate. He took millions of square feet of "see-through" commercial buildings and turned them into holdings worth billions of dollars.

But what does he see in the Tribune group? Could it be millions of captive consumer eyeballs looking for change? Or maybe strong brands that stand for content distribution looking for a new and more effective ways to communicate? Mr. Zell has taken big risks in his time, but he is most known for being able to carefully measure risk. He is certainly someone to watch and is anything but a fool.

And meanwhile back at the newspapers, there are a lot of nervous folks wondering what's next. Here's a clue. At a past Inman Connect conference, Zell spoke and made a comment that illustrated what he thought of himself in most business situations. I will never forget when he answered a question from the audience about becoming an extinct business person in the face of technology. He paused and replied, "I come here today as nothing more than a lighthouse in the sea of mental masturbation." You go Sam!

--Ken Jenny, TranCen

Reality show producers Screaming Flea Productions are looking for Seattle-based entrepreneurs to follow for an upcoming television show. John Cook at the Seattle PI reveals that they are already in discussions with Redfin's CEO Glenn Kelman.

This reminds me a lot of the 2001 documentary Startup.com, which chronicled the implosion of the site govWorks.com (which, among other things, wanted to let you pay your parking tickets online). If you haven't seen it, add it to your Netflix queue - Startup.com is a fascinating look behind madness that drove the first dotcom boom.

Personally, I'd love to see this new show follow a real estate startup - it would show a different side of the industry and provide welcome relief from all those Fix and Flip shows that saturate cable TV now.

Some other Seattle based real estate startups for them to consider; how about Rich Barton from Zillow.com or Matt Heaton from ActiveRain?