OK, enough with the doom and gloom. Some companies are thriving by using new techniques and old-fashioned brain power.

In fact, a survey by SurePayroll, which handles payroll services for small businesses nationally, asked its clients how they were doing. About 30% said they were increasing sales and revenue. Here are a couple of profiles from the New York Times of the successful ones and the approaches they used:

A small software-development firm in Pennsylvania saw its sales dropping as business customers tightened their belts. The company’s response: a spin-off venture that capitalizes on the cell-phone boom and Internet search technology.

The company developed and marketed cell-phone accessories, starting on a shoestring with just a four-person division.  With such a tight ship and some creative budgeting, the company is able to price its products at about 10% less than the bigger competitors. And lot of cell-phone users are tech-savvy, so they know how to use specialized Web search engines to find the lowest prices. And guess whose products pop up frequently on those search engines? Yup, the small firm from Pennsylvania.

A New York company that organized outings for employee-reward programs found that strapped employers were less and less eager to sign up for the typical event the company specialized in: deluxe packages to high-profile attractions like the Super Bowl or the Master’s. The price tag for such a package could run in the neighborhood of $10,000 — a neighborhood that had dwindling traffic.

The company’s approach: Ask clients what they would like to spend their money on. The predictable, typical answer was “anything good, but for a lot less money.”

The company’s response: If clients want scaled-back services, give them scaled-back services. Instead of exotic, expensive outings that usually involved airfare and hotels, the company leaned toward smaller, low-key offerings, such as a day at the zoo for client employees and their families. Not as snazzy as the Super Bowl, but certainly profitable. The company’s revenues are up about 25% this year, in the face of a withering recession that has killed off less-innovative competitors.