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How Guerrilla Advertising Can Build Business Without Breaking the Bank
If you're like the majority of small businesses, there's never enough time or money. Especially when it involves advertising. You know you must advertise to build business, but it's hard to market when money is tight.

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

Flyers
Whether you want 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're trying to advertise on the cheap. In case 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, if possible. 2) Use a catchy headline and visual. 3) Keep your copy short and to-the-point. 4) Remember your address and contact number!

Some places it might seem 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 high school student to pass out your flyers at busy gatherings like Farmers' Markets, sporting events, etc., or even to take them door-to-door. Be sure you check the legalities in your town regarding the above, and always ask permission before you post or distribute flyers.

Vehicle Advertising
Go to your local sign shop and also have your logo, phone number and/or website converted to a decal and place it in your vehicle window. Viola! Marketing on the move! Actually, have several printed up and have family and friends to consider 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 on the market, but my favorites are Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace. These social communities enable you to create "house," invite friends and family over, and meet plenty of new people who could have 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, maybe not your Great Aunt Edna.) So nowadays, it's almost a given that you need to have a website. Your potential customers wish to be able to take a closer look at your company at their convenience. And it's really a perfect chance of you to let your visitors see you at your very best. It's a win/win. And surprisingly, it's relatively cheap and easy to put a simple website up. There are many wonderful serves that not only provide website hosting services, but templates which you can use. Depending on your goods and services, you can either set up a simple info internet site, or one that lets your customers can buy from you directly.

Sports Team Sponsorships
Does your son or daughter play in a sport, or do you know a child would you? Or are you simply interested in getting your 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 of the jerseys.

Online Video Marketing
YouTube, TubeMogul, et al
Did you know YouTube now represents over 12 percent of web traffic? Actually, many marketing experts are recommending their clients add this kind of tool in their marketing mix due to all the free traffic it could generate. Also it costs nothing to create!

What should you post? Consider performing a 3-5 minute informational video about your product or service, or 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 to" maximize your tax deductions? A florist..."how to" make your flowers go longer. The possibilities are endless! Your video does not have to be Oscar-caliber, but make certain it looks professional. Another idea for YouTube...if you do commercials, post the commercials!

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

First thing to do is make a list of media contacts and addresses. Why Do Your Customers Complain are the people you'll send the releases to. If you don't know the place to start on this, call your neighborhood media (newspapers, publications, magazines, radio and television stations) and also the trade publications in your industry and have who receives pr announcements. Update this list regularly. Next, determine that you will send X amount of press releases out per month and stay with it! Don't just await the big stuff...create happenings if you want to. A number 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 do not delay - on! The idea here is to keep your organization up front as much as possible.

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

Banners
Banners are fairly inexpensive. The next time you've got 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 you to definitely you. One of the effective ways is to involve some cards (business card size) printed up with your logo, address and contact number, plus a blank line for the current customer to print his/her name. Give your very best customers a number of these and ask them at hand them out to family and friends. Once you get one returned, send your customer a postcard (or an email) thanking them for the referral and reminding them to come directly into claim their discount (or free whatever).

Guerilla advertising takes a bit more effort and focus on your part, however the results can be well worth it. Instead of the scatter-shot that many of the traditional media outlets give you, going guerrilla forces you to be more creative in targeting those customers you can 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 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. 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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