Free (or Almost Free) Ways to Promote Your Business

This article is meant to inspire you, to engage you in a productive activity, to motivate you into action....to help you create and generate a customer base both on-line and offline, locally or globally. Please use all of the tools I share with you, as you honestly don't want to keep all of your eggs in one basket.
Always ask customers how they were referred to you. This will let you know what you are doing that works, vs. what isn't working so well. You can track this by writing down on a sheet every place that you advertise, and simply placing a check next to that space when you get a response from your ads.

How should a startup business advertise? With a startup budget of course! Get a printer (making sure the ink cartridges are cheap enough to purchase when you run out), and a lot of printer paper. Make up your flyers, starting with one of them, and have friends and associates review them for quality, spelling, and graphics. You might need to make several different flyers to begin with, and when everyone agrees that you have one great flyer, it is time to run about 1000 of them. This will work for anyone with a local business, whether it be selling goods, or a grand opening for a restaurant. Make more if you wish, as many as you can afford.

These flyers can be passed out at parades, events, festivals, street corners, or door to door. Don't put them on cars, in many areas that is frowned upon, but putting a flyer in someone's screen door or on the handle usually doesn't raise any eyebrows. If you do it on a Saturday or Sunday with your finest clothing on, most people will leave you alone, thinking you are door to door preachers. I prefer to do mine by stealth during the dark hours, however in some neighborhoods this would be unsafe. Consider your safety first and above all.

If you have not heard of freecycle, this is a group you should join at freecycle.org. You can ask for things that you need, and get rid of things that you don't. I cleaned out my entire garage and basement and got a pretty good fax machine which was essential to my business, and about everything you might want can be found there. If you need a printer or a computer part, it is likely that someone has one laying around they want to get rid of. I highly recommend freecycle. What do I ask for generally? Magazines....the next greatest advertising method.

I collect magazines, for free. This costs me nothing at all. When I am done with them, of course I donate them to waiting rooms at dentist offices, clinics, vision centers, tanning salons, and hair salons. With an envelope with "this magazine donated by" (business name) and my business cards tucked into a slot in the envelope. Tape the envelope inside the front few pages of the magazine and voila---free advertising. They get the benefit of having a variety of magazines in their waiting room, the clients get to read something, you get to advertise and everyone wins. I can think of nothing better than a win-win situation.

If you are thinking about Internet advertising, to start with a low budget, understand that you can advertise for free on many sites. Domesticsale.com, topix.com, and party-pop, as well as msn and yahoo, will allow free advertising. Take a look at what other companies are doing for ads...google them. See where they advertise, and see if you can place your ad there for free. If not, find out the cost. Some pay per click programs are awesome and require only ten dollars to begin, and no monthly commitment. Google ad words is the best bang for your buck here, in case you were wondering.

If you would like good quality business supplies, such as business cards, car magnets, re-order stickers, t-shirts, etc-check out Vista Print. Many of their items are free and you only pay shipping. I cannot stress to you enough that if you order from them one time, you will often get 20-50% off deals from them. They like to retain their customer base too! Of course, you can make your own, but the quality is much better through Vista Print.

Regarding business cards....they are MUCH more effective when combined with a percent off coupon, as well as a face to face delivery. People like to know who they're dealing with. You make it personal by presenting the card and coupon. Just leaving a stack of cards somewhere is a crap-shoot. Don't waste them, treat them like money. If you are shy, get over it by practicing handing out one card a day to a complete stranger. So what if they look at you funny...they don't even know you, and you may never see them again! When you're okay with one, start handing a card daily to two strangers....work your way up. You want your name out there? It isn't going to get there if the cards sit in the box.

The bottom line-if you don't advertise your business, you are not in business! Hopefully I have given you some ideas and thoughts, and insight to move forward in your endeavors! The market be with you, and please feel free to comment on other ideas that have helped you!