The Pennywise Chick Shares Affordable Ways to Advertise Your Small Business

Today, I would like to give a warm welcome to my guest – Lisa Auger, a Mom blogger and founder of  The Pennywise Chick, a fantastic blog dedicated to everything frugal! Lisa has been sharing her experiences as a Stay at Home Mom and she has a lot of great insight that helps others to live happily on a budget. Today, she talks about affordable ways to advertise your small business on a budget (something I think a lot of us can relate to) !

At The Penny Wise Chick my goal is to save money in all aspects of life whether it’s clipping coupons for groceries, finding affordable entertainment and fun for my family, or just saving a few pennies here and there. It’s great to be frugal in everything you do but especially when you have limited funds to work with.
If you own a small business, I’m sure you’re looking for ways to save money but still keep a high standard for your company. One way to save money is to get creative with your advertising. Unlike a large corporation who has millions of dollars to put towards advertising, a small business needs to plan carefully and spend wisely. And sometimes the best means of advertising are the cheapest.

Here are a few suggestions how to advertise on a small budget:

• Word of mouth with an incentive: Instead of relying on just word of mouth, why not offer a small incentive for people to talk up your business.  Perhaps a small percentage off their bill or a discount on their next purchase. This will encourage referrals by giving your current customers a good incentive.
• Interns & volunteers: Depending on the type of business you have, how about having interns or volunteers help sell your business? They could do any number of tasks including to promote your company and concentrate on advertising.
• Local Directories: Get your company listed in local directories whether in print or online. Some you may have to pay, for but some you may not.  You can also check your local town visitor center and see if you can leave brochures or information there.
• Sponsorship: This one will cost you some advertising dollars by why not be a sponsor for a local sports team or a local school? Have a banner displayed at the ball field right as the season is starting is a great way to get visibility to your company and shouldn’t cost too much.
• Social media & the internet:  There are so many avenues to advertise on the internet. It is a great resource to get out information and easy to update quickly. The possibilities are endless from a company website, a Facebook fan page, Twitter account, and other social media avenues. You can also join and participate in forums to get your company name out there. Another internet resource is to email current customers to let them know your plans for the coming year. Thank them for their loyalty, and this could also be a good place to reward current customers for referring friends & family.

I hope these tips have been useful to you! If you want to learn more about Lisa Auger, please visit  The Penny Wise Chick for more money saving tricks in all aspects of daily living. You can also find Lisa on Facebook and Twitter!