Business Promoting Ideas on a Small Budget

To be effective, promotion must be interruptive—that is, it must make you cease thumbing through the newspaper or thinking about your day long to read or listen to the advertisement. Promotion must even be credible, distinctive, & memorable in order to work. & at last, money must be spent to provide a media schedule for advertisement frequency, the most important element for advertisement memorability.
Promotion Checklist:

* Communicate a simple, single message. People have trouble recalling someone's name, not to mention a complicated advertisement message. For print ads, the simpler the headline, the better. & every advertisement element ought to support the headline message, whether that message is "price," "selection," "quality," or any other idea.

* Stick with a likable style. Ads have character & style. Discover a likable style & character & stay with it for at least a year, to keep away from confusing buyers. Be credible. In the event you say your quality or value is the "best" & it clearly is not, promotion will speed your demise, not increase your business. Identifying & denigrating the competition ought to even be avoided. It is potentially confusing & distracting & may backfire on you by making buyers more loyal to competitors.

* Ask for the sale. Provide basically visible information in the advertisement for potential customers to buy: location, phone number, store hours, charge cards accepted.

* Make definite the advertisement looks professional. In the event you have the time & talent, computer graphics & desktop publishing application can provide professional-looking templates to generate good-looking print ads. Think about obtaining writing, artistic, & graphics help from local agencies or art studios who have experienced professionals on staff, with expensive & inventive computer application in-house. Electronic ads (e.g., TV, radio, Web) & outdoor ads are best left to professionals to produce.

* Be truthful. Whatever promotion medium you pick, make definite your message is ethical & truthful. There's stringent laws regarding misleading practices & false promotion.

* There is an elderly adage that holds that at least 50 percent of all promotion is a waste of money. It is probably true—and in the event you can figure out which half of your advertisement budget is useless, you'll save a bundle. But until you accomplish this wisdom (which has so far eluded most marketers), you'd be wise to continue promotion full tilt & not take a chance on eliminating something that might work.
Low-and No-Cost Promotion:

* Print attractive & informative business cards that include your logo & hand them out in every single place, consistently! In the event you use letterhead stationery in your business, have it match your business card. Keep your identity as consistent as feasible.

* Print up some gift certificates. These let your customers introduce you to new customers. Since you get paid up front for the product or service, they are lovely for your money flow.

* Brochures let you provide lots of detail about your product or service. Simple three-fold brochure stock may be bought from mail order suppliers such as Paper Direct (800-272-7377) in tiny quantities.

* Flyers can be created inexpensively on your computer, or by a local print shop. You can use as much color as you like, with a color printer or elderly style colored paper stock. They can be used as bag stuffers or inserts to include with billings.

* Doorhangers are effective & widely used by quick food & home delivery & service businesses. In the event you pick this medium, use heavy stock so it won't blow off doorknobs & litter the neighborhood.

* Inserted ads include mailbox inserts & freestanding inserts. The science behind the mass distribution of inserts is beyond the scope of our discussion here. In the event you think that inserts could successfully reach your market, call one of the giant distributors & learn how much it would cost you to try this sort of program. The industry leaders are ADVO (call 860-520-3200, & they will give you the local contact) & Val-Pak which is so giant that you can find it under "V" in most local phone books.

* Paper or plastic bags & packaging make economical billboards. Print your name, logo, & message on anything you can, on all sides. Mailing labels are another ideal medium. Everyone who handles your mail will see your advertisement at no cost to you.