So you’ve got a great business idea, huh?

I’m assuming you have all the basics down like market research, price point, suppliers, manufacturers, and all the other things you need to start. I’m also going to assume that you’ve set up the proper business entity (DBA, LLC, INC, etc.).

If you need to advertise cheaply, here are the top 5 ways:

1. Newspaper and Local Paper ads

What? I’m reading this blog that is supposed to give me the secret of advertising cheaply…and it says that newspaper ads are the #1 way?

Well, yes. Don’t underestimate the power of the paper. You’d be surprised how many people will see it. You’d be amazed if you knew the number of times I’d get a call not just a few days, but a few weeks after the paper ran an ad of mine with a special offer in it.

Also, there are local papers that are generally distributed in local areas of town. In Houston, we have the Greensheets. I’ve also seen similar papers in other states called PennySaver, The Trader, LocalMarket, and more. These are especially good for local services because they generally have 2-20 versions of the same newspaper and each one goes to their own section of town.

If you are doing home repairs on the northwest side of your city, is it profitable for you to drive an hour and a half to bid on a job on the southeast side? Probably not. With gas above $3.00 a gallon, you really have to watch your expenses. Local papers are great for that.

2. Online Ads

If you don’t already have a website…get one. I build websites and offer web design and hosting services. Take a look at www.SquareOneGlobal.com. Whether you build it yourself or have someone else build it for you, it is probably the best ROI (Return On Investment) you’ll ever get.

There are great services like Craigslist.org, Backpage.com, and other local pages where you can list your products and services. Best of all, it’s 100% FREE ADVERTISING!!! You can’t beat that with a stick.

Just make sure that you don’t build a website, post a few Craigslist ads and scratch your head wondering why you’re not getting more calls. As you advance and do some business, make sure to research with your customers where they’re going to look for your products or services. Are they turning to the Yellowpages? Are they searching on Google, Yahoo!, or eBay? How about Local.com? Wherever they’re looking, you need to be advertising there.

There are many other ways to get more internet leads, but there’s too much information about that to fit in one or two posts.

3. Direct Mail

Yeah, I hate junk mail too. It is, however, somewhat effective. I generally get a 1% - 3% response from direct mail. You just have to consider ROI carefully here if you have a low profit margin. It can cost from .15 cents for simple postcards to .50 cents or more for a letter per person. Let’s say you’ve mailed 1,000 postcards at .30 cents each. That just cost you $300. Let’s assume you’re getting a 1% response from your mailing campaign and you get 10 calls. You MUST be able to turn 10 phone calls into $300 in revenue just to break even. If you’re making $30 profit from each sale, and you close the deal with ALL 10 callers…you’ve just broken even. However, if you’re making $250 profit from each sale, and only closed half of the callers, you’d have 5 callers closed at $250 profit each totaling $1,250 (minus the $300 it cost you) which leaves you with $950!

That sounds like a good day’s pay.

4. Magazine ads

Magazines are great places for ads if you choose the right magazine. They often stay in waiting rooms at the doctor’s office, auto repair shop, and other places for months or even years. Niche magazines are pretty specific on who is reading them. Next time you’re in the grocery store, look at the isle with all the magazines on it. You’ll often find two, three, four, or sometimes more magazines on very similar topics! Now you just have to compare the cost per ad view for each magazine. Price them all and ask how many people read their magazine each month. You should be able to divide that out.

5. Look for discount ad services.

There are lots of people in the advertising world that buy advertising in bulk. When I say bulk, I don’t mean they’re taking out two or three ads in the paper every month. I mean these guys buy 30+ ads in the local newspaper every day and pay 20 different magazines for 10 spots in each magazine. They even to USA Today, and are starting to spill over into internet ads. The key is that they’re buying so many ads so far in advance they’re getting the space for 20% - 50% of what it would normally cost.

They make their money by running generic ads as place fillers (plus a few ads for their own business(es) at next to no expense) and try to sell off their available ad spots at a profit. It’s a win-win situation if you’re willing to buy an ad package.

If they don’t sell all their spaces that month, the discount ad company will run filler ads there. They’ll sell something (anything, really) that will generate enough response to get their money back for that ad space. Since they’re getting it so cheap, it’s not too hard for them to do.

Who is my favorite discount advertiser? WolfEnterprises.net

I have no affiliation with him. He just has the small business market pretty well handled which I use regularly. If his places work for you, great. If not, you’ll have to find your own discount advertiser. There are plenty out there.

Happy Googling.

- John