Super Cheap Ways To Promote
Your Small Business

Article by: Dr. Kevin Nunley

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.

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