Advertising and Marketing Channel
Advertising and Marketing Your Small Business
Promoting your home business can be a lot of work! We have compiled a list of ideal ways to promote and advertise your home-based business. Please also make note that some ideas may be very expensive. Take into great consideration your budget and what type of home business you have.
Local Newspaper
If your budget allows, you can promote your
home-based business through your local
newspaper. This is ideal for anyone that runs a
business from home. If your business is solely
online then it might not be ideal to advertise
from the newspaper. Also, think of creative ways
to get your ad noticed. Opt to have a graphic in
your newspaper ad instead of plain old boring
text.
Phone Book
Again, if you run a home-based business (not
strictly an online business) this would also be
an ideal way for potential customers to find you
easily. Imagine you own a cleaning business,
someone could easily search the phone book to
locate a cleaning business in their area and
come across YOUR business.
Magazines
You can place an advertisement in a magazine
that has something to do with your target
market. Say that you sell wholesale wedding
bands or wedding veils online, a great way to
get more exposure is placing an advertisement in
a wedding magazine, or woman's magazine. Be
creative! There are lots of different magazines
out there where your target market may be. You
just have to look.
eBay
Placing a listing on eBay. Lots of people visit
eBay daily! These people may be looking for your
much needed services. Read more about
selling on eBay and starting an
eBay home business.
Flyers
If you do intend to pass out flyers for your
home-based business, we suggest that you make
them look neat, and eye-catching. We also
suggest you DON'T put them on car windows. Just
think of them time you went shopping and
received one of those pesky flyers pasted on
your windshield. Most likely your hard work will
go right into the garbage. So instead, try
asking local merchants in your area if they
would allow you to leave a stack of your flyers
on their counter for others to see. Some local
businesses may say no, but try offering a
discount deal on your products or service to
them. Another general rule of thumb is to stick
with stores you think that your target market
would be.
Press Releases
This can be great exposure for your small
home-based business or online business.
Radio Advertising
This can be a very costly means of promoting
your small business, but can give you great
exposure. It also depends on what type of home
business you have. For example, this can be good
way to get the word out for a small cleaning
business. However, advertising on the radio
probably won't be that great for someone that
sells personalized baby blankets or something
along those lines.
Direct Mail Advertising
If your budget permits and you really want mass
exposure for your business, then direct mail
advertising is the way to go. This is great
because now you can send potential customers
brochures, color catalogs, coupons, and letters.
Postcards
You can collect your online (or off ) customer's
home mailing address and send them a business
postcard filled with site updates or inform them
of a new product line being released.
Submitting Articles Online
Writing articles and submitting them to various
article directories online can give your online
business more exposure. Read more on
article marketing.
Pay-Per-Click Advertising
This also a great way to bring potential
customers to your online business instantly. The
links can lead to your main online store, leads
page, or to any website. This method is also
great for promoting affiliate products. Learn
more about
pay-per-click advertising.
Non-Reciprocal Link Directories
If you own a small business online, then
submitting your website to non-reciprocal link
directories can be a great benefit to your site.
It can definitely help you in your link building
campaign. Read more about using
non-reciprocal link directories.






