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How Guerrilla Advertising Can Build Business Without Breaking the Bank
If you're like most small businesses, there's never plenty of time or money. Particularly when it comes to advertising. You know you need to advertise to build business, but it's hard to advertise when money is tight.

That is where guerrilla advertising will come in. Guerrilla advertising (sometimes referred to as "guerrilla marketing") is about using the resources you have at your disposal to build business. These are things that may be a little off the beaten path of mainstream advertising, however they still prove highly effective if done properly.

Flyers
Whether you want tell customers in regards to a sale or other dressing up event, or just desire to let people know about you, flyers are easy and relatively effective if you're attempting to advertise on the cheap. For those who have a computer and access to clip art or photos, then you can probably put together a professional looking flyer. Some do's: 1) Include an irresistible offer, when possible. 2) Work with a catchy headline and visual. 3) Keep your copy short and to-the-point. 4) Remember your address and contact number!

Some places you might think about putting your flyers include
- Cars in parking lots

- Coffee shops

- Windows of local businesses (like grocery stores)

- College bulletin boards

- Library bulletin boards

- Apartment buildings

- Office buildings

- Fold, tape, and send to your email list

Consider paying a college or high school student to pass out your flyers at busy gatherings like Farmers' Markets, sports, etc., or to take them door-to-door. Be sure to check the legalities in your area regarding the above, and always ask permission before you post or pass out flyers.

Vehicle Advertising
Go to your local sign shop and have your logo, phone number and/or website converted to a decal and stick it in your car window. Viola! Marketing on the road! In fact, have several printed up and ask family and friends to take into account putting them on the vehicles as well.

Social Media
I've been monitoring this trend for months now, and in that time, it has spread like wildfire. And from everything I've seen and everything I've read, the trend will continue. There are many of these sites out there, but my favorites are Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace. These social communities enable you to setup "house," invite friends and family over, and meet plenty of new people who may have the same interests as you, or may be potential customers. Avoid being shy about touting your products!

Website
Everyone is on the Internet. Seriously, everyone. (Okay, maybe get more info .) So these days, it's almost a given that you should have a website. Your potential customers want to be able to take a closer look at your organization at their convenience. And it's really a perfect chance of you to let your customers see you at your very best. It is a win/win. And surprisingly, it's relatively cheap and easy to put a straightforward website up. There are various wonderful hosting companies that not only provide web hosting services, but templates that you can use. Depending on your service or product, you can either put up a simple info site, or one which lets your customers can buy from you directly.

Sports Team Sponsorships
Does your son or daughter play in a sport, or have you any idea a child would you? Or are you simply interested in getting the name before hundreds of proud parents every week? Sports team sponsorships are fairly cheap and most of the time you get to put your logo on all the jerseys.

Online Video Marketing
YouTube, TubeMogul, et al
Did you know YouTube now represents over 12 percent of website traffic? In fact, many marketing experts are recommending their clients add this sort of tool within their marketing mix due to all of the free traffic it can generate. Also it costs nothing to post!

What should you post? Consider performing a 3-5 minute informational video about your service or product, or perhaps a video testimonial from satisfied customers. "How-to" videos can even be incredibly successful. Does your goods and services lend itself to an instructional how-to? If you're an accountant, how about "how exactly to" maximize your tax deductions? A florist..."how exactly to" make your flowers go longer. The options are endless! Your video doesn't have to be Oscar-caliber, but make certain it looks professional. Another idea for YouTube...should you choose commercials, post the commercials!

Dedicated NEWS RELEASE Campaign
Honestly, just about anyone can write a news release. It costs close to nothing to generate and send out press releases, and the benefits can be huge.

First thing to do is make a set of media contacts and addresses. These are the people you'll send the releases to. If check here don't know where to start on this, call your neighborhood media (newspapers, publications, magazines, radio and television stations) as well as the trade publications in your industry and have who receives press releases. Update this list regularly. Next, determine that get more info will send X number of press releases out monthly and stay with it! Don't just wait for the big stuff...create happenings if you need to. A few of the things you need to send press releases out for include:

- Awards

- Grand openings, sales, events, etc.

- Conference attendance

- Seminars

- New equipment

- New employees

The list can do not delay - on! The idea here is to keep your company up front whenever you can.

T-shirts
Put your logo on t-shirts and put them on everywhere it is possible to. Encourage employees, friends and family to do the same.

Banners
Banners are fairly inexpensive. The next time you have a sale or special event, have a banner made and display it proudly and prominently on your own building, or in front near to the street.

Referral Bonus
Offer your current customers a "referral" bonus (a discount on your service or product perhaps) when they refer you to definitely you. The most effective ways would be to involve some cards (business card size) printed up together with your logo, address and phone number, plus a blank line for the current customer to print his/her name. Give your best customers several of these and ask them to hand them out to friends and family. Whenever you get one returned, send your customer a postcard (or a contact) thanking them for the referral and reminding them to come directly into claim their discount (or free whatever).

Guerilla advertising requires a little more effort and focus on your part, however the results can be really worth it. Instead of the scatter-shot that lots of of the original media outlets give you, going guerrilla forces you to become more creative in targeting those customers that you may reach with the budget you have.

Donna Williams may be the founder and creator of BusinessBurrito.com - an internet site dedicated to helping smaller businesses grow to their maximum potential. She is also a 25-year advertising / marketing executive, creative director, writer, and producer. Together, Donna and her husband currently own and co-own five smaller businesses. To learn more about Donna and read more of her articles, visit her website at

http://www.businessburrito.com

� Copyright 2008, Donna Williams, BusinessBurrito.com. All rights reserved.
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