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How Guerrilla Advertising Can Build Business Without Breaking the Bank
If you're like the majority of smaller businesses, there's never enough time or money. Particularly when it comes to advertising. Additional hints know you should 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 known as "guerrilla marketing") is about utilizing the resources you have at your disposal to build business. They are things that might be a little off the beaten path of mainstream advertising, but they still prove impressive if done properly.

Flyers
Whether you need tell customers in regards to a sale or special event, or just want to let people find out about you, flyers are easy and relatively effective if you are trying to advertise on the cheap. If you 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 phone 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 mailing list

Think about paying a college or senior high school student to pass out your flyers at busy gatherings like Farmers' Markets, sports, etc., or to take them door-to-door. Make sure you 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 neighborhood sign shop and also have your logo, contact number and/or website converted to a decal and place it in your car window. Viola! Marketing on the road! Actually, have several printed up and ask family and friends to take into account putting them on their vehicles as well.

Social Media
I am monitoring this trend for months now, and for the reason that time, it has spread like wildfire. And from everything I've seen and everything I've read, the trend will continue. There are numerous of these sites out there, but my favorites are Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace. These social communities let you setup "house," invite your friends over, and meet plenty of new people who could have exactly the same interests as you, or may be potential customers. Don't be shy about touting your services!

Website
Everyone is online. Seriously, everyone. (Okay, not your Great Aunt Edna.) So these days, it's almost confirmed that you should have a website. Your potential customers wish to be able to take a closer look at your organization at their convenience. And it's really a perfect chance for you to let your customers see you at your very best. It is a win/win. And surprisingly, it's relatively cheap and an easy task to put a simple website up. There are lots of wonderful serves that not only provide website 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 that lets your customers can buy from you directly.

Sports Team Sponsorships
Does your child play in a sport, or do you know a child who does? Or are you currently simply interested in getting the name before a huge selection of proud parents every week? Sports team sponsorships are fairly cheap & most of the time you can put your logo on all of the jerseys.

Online Video Marketing
YouTube, TubeMogul, et al
Did you know that YouTube now represents over 12 percent of website traffic? Actually, many marketing experts are recommending their clients add this kind of tool in their marketing mix because of all the free traffic it can generate. And it costs nothing to post!

What in the event you post? Consider doing a 3-5 minute informational video about your service or product, or perhaps a video testimonial from satisfied customers. "How-to" videos can also be incredibly successful. Does your goods and services lend itself to an instructional how-to? If you are an accountant, how about "how exactly to" maximize your tax deductions? A florist..."how exactly to" make your flowers last longer. The options are endless! Your video does not have to be Oscar-caliber, but make sure it looks professional. Another idea for YouTube...if you do commercials, post the commercials!

Dedicated Press Release Campaign
Honestly, just about anybody can write a press release. It costs next to nothing to create and send out press releases, and the benefits could be huge.

First thing to do is make a set of media contacts and addresses. They are the people you'll send the releases to. Unless you know the place 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 ask who receives pr announcements. Update this list regularly. Next, determine that you'll send X number of press releases out per month and stay with it! Don't just await the big stuff...create happenings if you want to. A few of the things you should send pr announcements out for include:

- Awards

- Grand openings, sales, events, etc.

- Conference attendance

- Seminars

- New equipment

- New employees

The list can go on and on! The idea here's to keep your organization up front as much as possible.

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

Banners
Banners are fairly inexpensive. Next time you have a sale or other dressing up event, have a banner made and display it proudly and prominently on your own building, or in front close to the street.

Referral Bonus
Offer your current customers a "referral" bonus (a discount on your own service or product perhaps) when they refer someone to you. One of the most effective ways is to involve some cards (business card size) printed up with your logo, address and phone number, and also a blank line for the current customer to print his/her name. Give your best customers several of these and ask them at hand them out to friends and family. Whenever you get one returned, send your customer a postcard (or an email) thanking them for the referral and reminding them ahead in to claim their discount (or free whatever).

Guerilla advertising requires a little more effort and work on your part, but the results can be really worth it. Rather than the scatter-shot that many of the traditional media outlets offer you, going guerrilla forces you to be more creative in targeting those customers that you can reach with the budget you have.

more info is the founder and creator of BusinessBurrito.com - a website dedicated to helping smaller businesses grow with their maximum potential. She actually 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. For more information 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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