Simon’s Notes

So you’ve started your new small business, you’ve worked out an effective plan and set some realistic goals. But, just like the online world, you need to find a way to generate traffic to your business, cause no matter how cool your idea is, if nobody sees it you won’t make any money.

Advertising doesn’t have to be as complicated or as expensive as it may sound. If you’re starting a new business on a tight budget, you might be pleasantly surprised to find out that there is a multitude of very effective ways to get your name out there without breaking your wallet.

Before you think about advertising at all, you have to make sure that you’ve done your homework properly. Its a good idea to do a bit of research in your target area to find out who your target market is. It’s not enough to just spray some fliers across town and hope that you’ll get some response. You might still get some business that way but it’s a huge waste of resources, and with a little planning you can be a lot more effective.

Here’s a small list that I’ve put together, from my experience and research on the internet, of advertising methods for the “tight budget entrepreneur”.

• Print and distribute some fliers - This is still one of the simplest and most effective methods available, but like I said, be wise in your distribution. Instead of just handing out fliers, it might be a better idea to put them in some key places. For example, whenever I print fliers for my entertainment business I try to leave them at places like toy shops, schools, or family restaurants.
• Print business cards - This one should actually be first. Business cards are not really a way that will generate a lot of customers right away, but if you’re a true entrepreneur you will always be looking for opportunities to network with people and if you don’t have a business card handy you’ll look very unprofessional.
• Car magnets - To me this makes a whole lot of sense. If you have a car it would be stupid not to use it for advertising.
• Launch your company properly - Make a bit of a splash out of the whole thing, and if you can afford it, give something away, people love freebies and they always seem to find the place where they can get some.
• T-shirts - This one’s fun. Make a bunch of t-shirts with your details on them and give them away. Maybe you could give a bunch away during your launch.
• Other promotional material - People always need things like bookmarks, calendars, and pens. It might be a good idea to invest in some odd promotional materials like these and give them out to potential clients.
• Door to door - Yep, its all about networking, get out there in the trenches and tell your prospects about your services.
• Offer incentives for word-of-mouth referrals - Network, network, network. Do whatever it takes to start the word-of-mouth ball rolling.

Hopefully this gets you thinking. It’s really not that hard to get some exposure on a limited budget, all it takes is a little thinking outside of the box. If you’re a true entrepreneur, this should be easy.

Simon

If you like this post consider subscribing to my full RSS feed.

Filed under: Money and Finances by Simon Rodrigues