Tired of Paying for Advertising?

Marketing and advertising can consume a sizeable portion of the small business person’s budget. Fortunately, there are ways to get the word out there about your business without dropping a ton of change. Here are five sources of free advertising that you probably haven’t thought of yet.

Be thankful. When was the last time you dropped a thank you note or thank you email to a few of your biggest customers? Not only does communication of this nature make them feel positively toward you, it keeps your name in their short term memory and makes them think of services and product pages they just might need from you. If your thank you note includes a coupon, expect a sizeable response.

Join local online groups. The key there is ‘local’ sites such as Facebook have local groups that you can join. This will get the word out about your small business among younger, tech-savvy consumers who are more likely than any other generation to buy the latest thing. You will get a bonus if your homepage for these sites is well designed and includes enticing information about your business.

Become a writer. Starting an email newsletter about your business’s topic is a great idea. Generally, people who are interested in your field will also be interested in your services, making this an interesting and free way of promoting yourself. Describe problems your customers have had and how you have solved them, as well as other scenarios that make you and your business look like the hero. This is your change to paint yourself in the best possible light, so make sure you are the hero of every drama.

Offer a discount if your current clients can refer new clients to you. The one-time savings will be a huge motivator to them, but that same money is just a drop in the bucket compared to the money that can be earned from just one new long term customer. Nothing is as powerful as a word of mouth recommendation, so this is guaranteed to get results.

Break into movies. When on film, people can see you in your natural setting, and you are free to retape until you are happy with the take. See if your local television station needs a short, few-minute slot filmed on your subject every week. Alternately, film one by yourself and put it on youtube. Link that account to your Facebook and other social network accounts, and just watch your business soar. If you have the type of charisma that comes through on camera, this can be a real boon to your business.

Many people think that free sources of advertising must not be as good as the ones that cost money, but nothing could be further from the truth. Each of these methods can bring in a decent amount of work; combining them should leave you inundated with work. In this case, the best things in life, and the best advertisements on the web, really are free.