In the same day last week, John A. Greco, Jr., President & CEO of The-DMA and the BtoB magazine sent news of how the direct marketing industry and direct mail industry are getting hit by the recession.

In an email to members of the DMA, John highlighted how the DMA as an organization had to restructure, do more with less resources and even cancel some of its non-signature events. Its signature events: DMA’09, DMDays, Non-profit federation conference and the email evolution conference will still run along with events with its partners.

In an independent report by Christopher Hosford, BtoB reported a $1.7 billion drop in direct mail spending last year, down from $58.4 billion in 2007. According the Winterberry group, this was its first drop in 60 years. 2008 saw drops in direct mail spending in financial services (down 16.6%), technology (down 16.6%), travel and leisure (down 4.7%).

What to do about it:

Transform your  business to adjust to the economy

How? Read Jon Oakes’ recent post: Can’t dance and it’s to wet to plough