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25 Inexpensive Ways of Promoting and Advertising Your Business

Posted on | February 25, 2009 | 1 Comment

The number one complaint I hear from my clients (besides “Is it happy hour yet?”) is “I don’t have enough money to advertise and do marketing!” therefore I’m constantly on the lookout for new ideas to pass along. I think I hit the mother lode the other day when reading an article on ArtFire.

If you haven’t heard of ArtFire yet, you should dash on over there and check it out. If you’ve heard of Etsy, you get the idea behind ArtFire, but I am convinced that ArtFire is doing things a little bit better. There’s lots of support for artists selling their works and all sorts of great marketing tools. I’ve been following ArtFire on Twitter, too and they are using that tool heavily for promotion and offers. Plus, they’ve got an offer right now where if you sign up for an account, it’s $7 a month for life. No extra listing fees, etc. This is a great deal and a great way to get in on the ground floor.

Now, I realize that ArtFire isn’t the answer for all of my clients, but this article is awesome. MzzThang came up with 25 clever and creative ways to do marketing for your business. I’ve seen some before, and a lot of them are not right for everybody, but I figure anything that’s clever, out of the ordinary and inexpensive is worth a look. I’ve highlighted the 2nd paragraph because I thought it was a GREAT tip. Check out the beginning of MzzThang’s article and be sure to click the headline or the “read more” link at the end to see the 25 ideas. Thanks to MzzThang for permission to reprint.

25 Inexpensive Ways of Promoting and Advertising Your Business

By MzzThang

One of the biggest challenges that business owners face is promotion and publicity. Getting the word out is essential — and it can make or break a business. Leases are expensive, and owners can’t afford to wait weeks or months for traffic to reach their stores. Merely putting up an “OPEN” sign isn’t enough. Business advertising requires some creativity. Of course, most businesses usually have tight advertising budgets. After rent and suppliers have been paid there is typically little money left over for promotional purposes. Yet advertising cannot be overlooked. The trick is finding effective ways to stretch those dollars. Fortunately, some of the best techniques for business advertising are some of the least expensive.

In the AF forums I posted my way of promoting and advertising my business: I have made up several inexpensive sets of earrings, placed each in an organza bag with a business card, and I pass them out to any one I come in contact with each day. I only ask in return that the person visit my website, ask their friends to do the same, and not to forget to enter our monthly giveaway for the chance to win even more free jewelry. I’ve gained most of my business by doing this and this method (using promotional items) works well for me.

There’s a lot of ways of using promotional items and if you research it, you can get fairly reasonable prices (sometimes as low as a penny per piece). Go check your pen/pencil holder. How many pens do you have with a business name on it? Have you ever received a key chain, T-shirt or anything else from another business? Did you ever get a free balloon at the dentist office when you were a child? Everyone has a different way of advertising their business. Let your creative mind flow and see what you can come up with!

Here are 25 inexpensive ways for promoting your business. Maybe you’ll find one that works for your line of business — that won’t break your bank account! READ THOSE 25 IDEAS ON ARTFIRE

Mzz Thang is a member of the SRAJD and has also been a featured artisan and columnist for the artisan community Art Fire.  She has published articles regarding tips and tricks of the jewelry business — as well as featured jewelry pieces and DIY projects.

Category: business promotion and marketing, social marketing, tips, website marketing

Comments

One Response to “25 Inexpensive Ways of Promoting and Advertising Your Business”

  1. Deedee Hampton
    March 5th, 2009 @ 6:39 pm

    good tips Tracey- I will get a “kick” out of using the last one :)

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