When you want to increase your business and serve more customers, one of the best ways is through advertising. There are many different ways to advertise for a business: radio and television ads, print ads in magazines and newspapers, large ads in telephone books, flyers in direct mail, and of course, the newest is Internet advertising. It can be hard to decide which is the best way to advertise for a business and which will yield the most results. Further, you probably have an advertising budget, which will dictate the types of advertising you can employ.
If you’ve got a very small budget for advertisement, the best way to advertise for a business is via the Internet and through word of mouth references. This takes you into the world of web programming, possibly running a blog, and contacting others who have similar businesses or interests to your own. Generally you will want to create a visible site, and visibility means that others will link to your site. Many people do this by creating not only a website for their business but a related blog on the topic of the business and related subjects.
Once you have this going, start finding other similar sites and offering link exchange, advertising exchange, and mutual recommendations. It helps to find businesses that are related to your field but not exactly the same. For instance if you are a tax attorney, find other attorneys who work in personal injury, or corporate law, or you might want to try link exchanges with accountants. Where you get listed on search engines depends upon the number of links to your site, so having a good professional relationship with others can really help to increase your Internet profile. Alternately, with greater money, you can pay search engines to attach ads to sites that are in your area of expertise, which can also increase business.
It’s definitely a good idea to have a business listing in the phone book, but don’t forget these are distributed by more than one company. The largest one, distributed by your local phone company will have the biggest audience, but also charge the most for ads. On the other hand if you advertise for a business in a smaller yellow pages phone book, you may be able to get a larger and more visible ad for much less money.
You may also want to contact direct mail services to judge the cost of sending out flyers. If you offer a valuable coupon for your business, it may bring in foot traffic. If money is no object, which is seldom the case, clearly print ads in newspapers and magazines, and radio or TV ads are usually the most identified by customers. These can cost a lot, but think locally first. If you have a small local newspaper in your town or county, consider checking these papers first to advertise for a business. If your business is service related or tourist related, consider creating a brochure and distributing it at local hotels. Most hotels have guidebooks in each room or brochures in their front office that are essentially advertisements for local businesses.
You do need to give some thought to the customers you think will want to use your business. If you run a sporty and modern salon, you’re aiming for the 18-35 age group of customers. You can research demographics and figure out which advertising is most likely to appeal to that group. Don’t neglect the many books on this topic, which give you comprehensive information about how to advertise for a business. These can often be the most helpful, especially if you are on a limited budget.
