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A lot of businesses fail because they just can't sell their products/services to enough people. And part of the reason why is because not enough people knew about the business. That's why marketing plays such an important role in the success of a biz.
I won't lie...advertising can be pretty expensive. But it doesn't have to be. Sure, a 30-second spot on the Super Bowl will cost over a million dollars and some newspapers charge over $50,000 for a full page ad, but that doesn't mean that there aren't affordably ways to get the word out too. Here are some:
Print out flyers and promotional materials to give out
Find a public place and hand out flyers to people who might be interested in what you have to offer. Or you can even consider mailing them but then you would incur postage costs. It might sound cheap to mail out a flyer...after all it's only 34 cents for a stamp. But if you send out 100 flyers (still considered a small number), that'll cost you $34.
Attend conventions and public events
If you're in a niche market, attend any type of convention that fits your business category. Like if you are running an investing newsletter, attend a financial seminar. You'll meet lots of people to whom you can inform about what you're offering. Who knows...you might end up becoming the most popular person at the convention. I've actually heard of this happening.
If you're doing a mailing, try postcards
I wanted to do a mailing but I was turned off by the postage prices to get my stuff out to a lot of people. Then I considered postcard advertising. Postcard rates are only $0.21 per postcard. This will save you over 38%. And you can print postcards on your own computer for a reasonable price.
Try internet advertising
Internet advertising used to have a reputation of being very pricey. But over the last couple years, prices have come down over 90%. Here are some ways you can get some cheap internet advertising:
- Submit your site to search engines: There are many search engines out there, like Yahoo and Google, that allow you to submit your website to. People can then find your website when they search for something related to your site. This is free but you will need to install "meta-tags" on your site to do this.
- Pay-per-click search engines: Some search engines out there, like FindWhat.com, have created a system that allows you to "buy" the rank in which your site appears. For example, if you wanted to be the first site to come up when you enter the word "shopping", you just have to bid higher than anyone else. If you bid just 1 or 2 cents per click and you register a lot of keywords, you can get quite a bit of traffic. Twenty-five dollars might buy you 2500 visitors to your site.
- Cheap banner advertising - Design an ad and display it at the top of another website. Sites typically charge on a CPM basis. CPM stands for "cost per thousand impressions". So if a site charges $5 CPM, it means that you can have your ad displayed 1,000 times for $5.00. But remember that only about 0.8% of all people will actually click on the ad. So be sure not to pay more than $5 CPM for this kind of advertising.
Put an ad in the local newspaper
If you want a lot of awareness in the community, you might want to consider putting an ad in the local newspaper. Print advertising can be costly but if you're selling a service, an ad is one of the best ways to get you more clients. Be sure to research the rates and decide what size ad you can afford.
Always carry a business card
Be sure you have a business card handy to give to anybody you meet. It's one of the best ways for people to remember you. And they'll also have your contact information handy in case they decide they're interested.
With the right marketing, you'll be on the track to success...
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