And now for the secret to making your work stand out from everybody else's these days: Get personal.

In good or bad times, taking extra special care of others can make the difference between a thriving or dying business. For some, it's just the way they've always done their job. For others, it's a new approach in a weird economy.

Take Iris Salsman, a public relations professional in Missouri, who in going beyond the call of duty has babysat for a client's Golden Retriever. She invites clients who can't find a babysitter to bring their kids to their office where they are supervised by a staff member in a conference room equipped with toys and snacks. And since "we come in contact with a lot of eligible singles" the firm has made introductions, even arranged an office luncheon to introduce an advertising representative to one of their single clients, she says.

In a tough market for art sales where everyone is looking for a deal, New Yorker Joan Daidone has had to get creative without undervaluing artists she represents. She can't discount their work, so instead of just delivering an art piece she sold to a new collector, she took down a 100-pound mirror on the wall before installing the art — something she usually charges $110 an hour to do.

For another client who had just moved into a new home with bare walls except for two paintings the client bought from Daidone's company, she loaned the client art work for a dinner party she was hosting. "It made the client very happy and eventually resulted in another sale."

A financial planner at the Merlin Group in Pennsylvania who had worked with a retiring client who had moved to a retirement home, called his client to see how things were going. "No real complaints," said the client, "except that this place does not have my favorite breakfast cereal."

After some research, the employee discovered the cereal had a shelf life of a year, ordered a case from a wholesaler and shipped it to the client. As a result, the company added three new clients from the retirement home, thanks to the "cereal incident," says Al Benelli, owner of the Merlin Group.

Cindy Ormond of Ormond Entertainment in New York says she could hide behind the sound equipment with a "not my problem" mentality when she's playing music at a special event. Instead, when working weddings for instance, she wipes down chairs at outdoor events and rocks crying babies to sleep. The result? "An abundance of referrals," she says.

Then there's the Colorado dance studio, CCD, which also sells dance supplies.

A performer from a local theatre needed a new pair of shoes for her show that evening. She couldn't leave her day job to replace her pair that had a hole. So owner Lee Prosenjak met her on the sidewalk outside her office building in downtown Denver for a fitting. "It took 45 minutes to make a sale of $17 and was worth every minute," he says, since "she now refers everyone in the shows that she performs in."