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Small
Business, BIG Marketing™
by Will
Dylan ©2004
CHAPTER 4 - MONEY
SAVING MARKETING TIPS (con't)
The
same happens with our newspaper ads. Every month or two,
the major daily in our city runs a special employment
related section. And they always approach us to
advertise. The asking price is always quite high, but
they justify it by saying that because the section was
focused just on companies in our business, the ads are
worth the money.
In
fact the opposite may be true. Why would I want to put
my small budget up against the larger ads of my larger
competitors? So instead of jumping in, I sat back. As
the ad deadline approached, the price for the remaining
ads started to fall. By the time the ad deadline
arrived, the back page of the section was still not
sold. The original asking price was over $3,000. I paid
$1,500.
Spend
a little bit on your Publicity
– As I mentioned before, publicity is free and offers
your business a great chance to get local recognition.
But it won’t work without well crafted news releases.
So don’t be afraid to spend a few bucks to get a
writer working for you on a freelance basis. It’s
cheaper than you think. One significant article in the local paper
could be worth thousands of dollars in additional sales
to your small business.
If
you’re local, stay that way –
Before you go and place an ad in the newspaper or on
radio, ask yourself : Who will hear this ad? If you
service a relatively small area, don’t buy ads on a
radio station that reaches far beyond the area in which
you do business (your “trade area”.) Same goes for
the newspaper. You
are paying for coverage that you are not interested in.
Buy local ads that local customers will be exposed to.
Now
there are exceptions. If you found a station or
newspaper that speaks to your demographic perfectly,
then that’s the place to advertise, regardless of
geographic reach. All things being equal though, you
shouldn’t pay to advertise in markets that you don’t
serve.
Continue Chapter 4 >>
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