Take advantage of free advertising. Are you a contractor? Check your local hardware and paint stores for contractor boards where you can post your business card. Libraries sometimes offer community bulletin boards for posting your business cards or any special events your company may host. Public speaking may be an option for you, depending on your business. Do you offer services to realtors or decorators? Often groups of realtors and decorators will allow a speaker at their weekly staff meetings. Just call and inquire. Flyers, magnets, and pens can be distributed to professional offices without a fee as long as you telephone ahead of time so that you are not considered a door-to-door solicitor.
Here’s a great example of a low-budget marketing project. Each morning at 10am, a restaurant owner delivered a complimentary appetizer to a different office near his Mexican cafe. Employees at the offices would munch on the chips and salsa on their coffee break and crave Mexican food at lunchtime. The restaurant was advertised on napkins and take out menus left with the deliveries, and as a result, he generated a large lunch crowd.
With a little extra work and some unconventional thinking, a small business can have a successful marketing program with a very small budget. Once a small marketing program starts drawing in new clientele, there will be more funds to invest in advertising. The hardest work is always at start up, so rev your engine, get ready to roll, and drive your company to success.