SmallBizResource Blog -- Marketing

Recession Aside, You Still Need To Advertise

Posted by Gayle Kesten Tuesday, Dec 2, 2008, 03:16 PM ET

Gimme an R… Gimme an E… Hey, have you heard? We're officially in a recession -- and have been for, oh, about a year now.

I know it's nothing to cheer about, but maybe poke fun at the late-to-the-table declaration, as Fortune's Stanley Bing does so well -- why not? (He had me at "No, Duh.")

Recession or, well, recession, my RSS reader is filling up with articles about why you shouldn't cut your advertising budget just because times are tight. Let your competitors do the cutting while you maintain the status quo, they argue, and it'll look like you're doing more. "If your company has something to say that is relevant in this environment, it's going to be more efficient to say it now than to say it in better times," says Wharton marketing professor Leonard Lodish, who also says that message should be less about price cuts and more about how your offerings can benefit customers.

That's good advice for any size business. As for not cutting our budgets, that might be hard to avoid, but we still have plenty of free or low-cost advertising options to choose from, such as the following 10 (notably nontech) offered by Home Business Magazine:

1. Press releases: Make sure they're newsworthy, such as the opening of your business, a grand reopening, adding someone to your staff, or receiving a certification or award. If none of these examples work for your business, consider tying into the hottest trends in the media. For example, if you operate a mobile cleaning service, send out a press release that you have recently switched to all natural cleaning products and operate out of a hybrid car to reduce the carbon footprint of your business.

2. Writing articles: Articles position you as the expert in your field and showcase your ability to help a potential client with your product or service. Here is an example: January is National Organization month. Your business is helping people get organized. A great article could be titled, “Pinnacle Organization Offers Five Ways to Get Organized During National Organization Month.”

3. Source letters: A source letter is an overlooked form of free advertising that explains to a media person how you can be a source for future articles.

4. Volunteering: Volunteering for a cause you feel passionate about can put you in contact with people that are interested in using your products or services and they have already seen the type of work ethic you have through your volunteer services.

5. Business cards: Normally people already have business cards, so why not use them to further advertise your business? Use the front of the card for contact information and the back of the card to provide something of value to a potential client. To use the organization example above, have the top five ways to get control of your space. Another example is a project manager could have the top five ways a project can stay on track.

6. Flyers: Flyers are an easy and low-cost way of getting the word out about your business. They can be either graphically designed for posting at a local community centers, chambers of commerce, or businesses. On the Internet, you post a flyer without graphics on sites such as www.craigslist.org, www.webclassifieds.us, www.finditclassifieds.com, www.newfreeclassifieds.com, www.usnewspapers.com/cgi-bin/classifieds/classifieds.cgi

7. Partnerships: Partnerships can be difficult to negotiate, but once they are in place and all the expectations are understood, these are a great form of free advertising. You can partner with your competition or a related business. To partner with your competition means if one of you is too busy to take a project on, then the client is directly referred to you and in the future you return the gesture. To partner with a business related to you means if a client needs a service from both parties, they team together to provide all the services for the project.

8. Contests: A great way to get press coverage, articles, and possible partnerships all rolled in one is hosting a contest. For example, a marketing professional and graphic designer team up to create a marketing makeover contest. The marketing professional develops a marketing strategy while the graphic designer creates all the collateral for the makeover. The contest gets a media sponsor and then finds a business to donate printing for the new collateral in exchange for the media coverage.

9. Teaching: Local chapters of the Small Business Administration are normally looking for professionals to teach others how to succeed in business. You can also host a class at a local community center or library. Another teaching outlet is approaching the local community college to teach for its adult learning program or even its associate level classes. Teaching seminars over the phone in the form of a tele-seminar or over the Web in a Webinar are also possibilities.

10. Speaking events: Similar to teaching, speaking events come in all shapes and sizes. You can volunteer to speak or even be a highly paid keynote speaker for a trade association convention. When pursuing this avenue of advertising, consider joining a local chapter of Toastmasters to hone your speaking skills. To find venues, contact local chambers of commerce and speaking associations.

Marketing | SmallBizResource