BabeofBusiness.com

Small business owners often shy away from advertising because of the associated high costs. It’s true that buying ad space in high profile magazines or listing your business in the yellow pages come with hefty price tags. But you don’t have to go to such elaborate lengths to achieve effective results on a limited budget.

DISCLAIMER – WARNING - IMPORTANT

Before you can reap the rewards of advertising, you need to understand the basic ‘rules of the road.’ For starters, use one message consistently across all platforms. Remember to infuse your piece with action words (strong, pleasing verbs – often unusual ones) and calls to action. Intrigue your audience with a compelling opening line – a vivid thought provoker. Make them quiver with curiosity – so much so that they just cannot help picking up the phone, visiting your Web site or stopping by your retail shop or office. Always end the ad with a solid closing line which refers to the opening line – like a circle coming to full closure.

Test an ad in a small market and in one medium before delving in too deep. To measure the success of the ad, include a coupon or code. You’ll want to tailor your ads for each respective market, too. Test, test, test.

To sum up the post, here are some affordable, effective ideas to jump start your efforts:

• Advertising on invoices – offer a deal that’s too good to pass up

• Advertising on blogs that offer complementary products or services

• Print up some advertising stickers and ask to place them on bags at local stores in exchange for advertising at your place of business (or Web site)

• Consider giving away free samples as opposed to advertising – quite often the former is cheaper than the latter

• Place in ad upside down or sideways – a real attention grabber

Remember to advertise where your prospects are most likely to look first – consider the entire sales cycle (i.e. many customers now research products online before buying them at a local store). And make sure your message is as compelling as possible.

Tags: advertising, advertising ideas, advertising on a shoestring, cheap advertising ideas