Super Cheap Ways To Promote Your Small Business

Small business owners tend to have a common problem: where can
they go to find effective cheap advertising?

It used to be that a small business' best low-cost advertising
bet was radio. Radio is still quite affordable in many
communities, but ad rates have gone through the roof in many
others.

This leaves lots of small businesses with nowhere to go for local
advertising. Fortunately, America's oldest form of mass media is
coming to the rescue. Many cities are seeing a big return of
neighborhood newspapers.

Small neighborhood papers focus on a particular part of town.
They carry news on events within a few mile radius of their
readers. Neighborhood papers also work hard to appeal to
businesses in their immediate area.

One consumer told me she pays closer attention to ads in her
neighborhood paper. "I know they're all a very short drive away.
The big daily paper is advertising stores that are an hour or
more away," she said.

Neighborhood papers not only feature far lower rates than larger
papers, they let you tightly focus on a particular part of town.
Specific neighborhoods feature specific income levels and
lifestyles. This helps you target your ads more than you can with
other kinds of local advertising.

Direct Response TV is also a great place to find cheap
advertising. Just like any other kind of direct response
marketing, television's response rates can be low. But there are
so many people watching TV that it doesn't take a very high
response rate to keep you awash in sales.

Nothing gets direct response on TV like infomercials. The best
feature exciting video on a popular subject related to the
product being sold. The product is marketed during the program's
six minutes of commercials. Three two-minute commercials are
common.

Shop for infomercial space during off-peak times. Late at night
and weekends are best. Even though these times aren't big
ratings- getters, the total numbers of people watching can still
be impressive.

Look for especially low prices in smaller markets and on cable TV
outlets. Thirty minutes can sometimes go for as low as a few
hundred dollars.

Save on product costs by hiring a small, capable one or two-
person production house.

Internet advertising also tends to be cheap, but it can take
quite a bundle to keep your messages consistently in front of a
lot of prospects. Buying audience for your website is almost
always an expensive proposition.

One way to stretch your reach on the Internet is to team up with
other businesses that are reaching a lot of prospects with
advertising. Have them include your ad, banner, link, or (even
better) article on their website or in their advertising.

Watch for web-based businesses that advertise frequently in top
ezines, in card decks, on TV, and in magazines. Get mentioned on
their site and harvest some of the benefit of their aggressive ad
campaign.

You are more likely to receive cooperation from businesses that
have clients similar to yours. Show the business how you offer a
valuable product or service their customers will appreciate.
Including you on their site must be a benefit for them.

Many intense Internet advertisers are looking for ways to defray
their marketing expenses. Offer to pay a portion of the cost in
exchange for being included in ads and on their site.