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6 Simple, Low Cost Marketing Ideas for Your New Home-Based Business
Luckily, savvy new business owners know that the most effective forms of advertising are frequently free or low cost. Here are ten great ideas for launching your new business.
1. Word of Mouth. Many people think this comes only after you've started satisfying your customers, and they tell their friends and family about your business. That could be the case, but you'll want to start that "buzz" for your biz before you have your first client.
You do this by contacting your friends, family, co-workers and everyone else you know and simply know that you are in such-in-such business now. You're excited about it, and if they have any referrals they can send your way, you will treat them extraordinarily well, and you will be forever grateful to your friend for the referral. Your sheer enthusiasm for what you are doing really has to shine here, for maximum effectiveness.
2. Business Cards. While business cards aren't any big secret, many new business owners spend way too much money on them. If you're working with a budget (aren't we all?) then you should know that you can get full color business cards online, for free. Well, you only pay shipping and handling charges. You're still only paying about five bucks in all. Get them at: http://yourhomebiz.com/freebizcards.html
When I started my web design business in 1996, I paid a local chain about $80 for 500 "fancy" 2 color (black and blue) cards. Technology really is a wonderful thing.
3. Flyers. Flyers are a great way to get the word out about your business. Most of the time, computers come with word processing software that will even help you accomplish this task.
If your local laws allow it, you can pass them out door to door (and get some great excerise in the process), put them on cars in crowded parking lots, give them to satisfied customers, etc.
One thing you CANNOT do is put them in mailboxes. It's again the law (in the U.S.A.).
4. Press Releases. While I am no expert in press releases, there is one thing I do know: THEY WORK.
In fact, my web site once made it into a small article in the Seattle paper one Sunday. It mentioned my site, as well as about 10 others. But you know what? My hits more than tripled for weeks afterwards.
Do press releases work? You bet! There are lots of experts online that you can learn from.
5. Get on the Radio. If you can be interviewed on the radio as a "local expert" in your business, your phone will start ringing and your web site will get traffic. It's amazing! And there are hundreds, if not thousands of radio shows who would love to interview you for one reason or another and learn about your expertise. (And yes, even as a new business owner, you ARE an expert!)
6. Classified Ads. Classified ads have been around forever (or so it seems) and there is a good reason: they work. Period. I have noticed that ads in big city newspapers have gone up significantly in price. It may be justified, but most of us new home-based business owners simply cannot afford that on an ongoing basis.
Other options include your local "penny, thrifty, etc." -type papers, where you can run an ad for under $10 a week. You can also pay a bit more and advertise in a newspaper advertising network. This is where groups of newspapers come together and offer advertising much below their normal rates for bulk ads. So instead of being seen in one newspaper, you're ad is in 10 or 100, and you pay rock bottom prices.
You can even find free advertising online (at sites like http://yourhomebiz.com/classifieds.html). But be careful, free doesn't always equal effective -- especially when it comes to online advertings (like FFA sites.)
So, if you've just started your home-based business of you're marketing budget is a little dry, try some of these free, yet effective marketing ideas and watch your business soar.
JULIE FROST Subscribe to her free email newsletter, YourHomeBizWeekly at: http://www.YourHomeBiz.com For more in-depth information, read the best-selling ebook "How to Find, Start, Grow, and Succeed in Your Own Home- Based Business™" at her web site: http://www.yourhomebiz.com/ebook.html Day Installing Ornamental Address Signs! 
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