Paul Simon sang, Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover. Well, there’s at least that many ways to advertise your home-based business and many of them are cost effective. Read on for tips on how to advertise your business without depleting your bank account.
Word of Mouth– Not only one of the best but definitely the cheapest form of advertising. Haven’t we all purchased goods and services based solely on the recommendation of family, friends and co-workers? When someone buys from you, don’t be ashamed to ask them to recommend you to others who may have similar needs.
Networking– Do you have to network in order to be successful in business? Not necessarily but it wouldn’t hurt. Making yourself known and the goods and services you provide is tantamount to the success of your business. A good place to start is business to business events sponsored by your local chamber of commerce or other business organizations. Attend them as often as possible. Get out there and mingle. Before you go make sure you have a supply of business cards to take along with you and if you provide a service make sure you can sum up quickly what it is in a sentence or two. Don’t just go to these events and shove your business card into as many hands as possible. Talk to people. I mean really talk to people. Find those you feel are good prospects and then show them how you can help them with a particular problem. In my case, I’m a writer, so I can offer my services to those who may need a brochure, advertising copy, report or other material produced. But what about those who say they don’t need my services? It’s my job to show them that they really do. Now, I’m not talking about being downright pushy but simply showing them how I can help them. If the company does not have a newsletter, for instance, I can show them how they can use a simple two-page newsletter as a marketing tool. And I’ll write all the copy and handle the printing for them.
More ways to advertise will be discussed in part II.