How do you advertise?

[Geri]

How do you get the word out about your business?

How much does it cost? Anything that's FREE?

How is it working for you, are you getting traffic and is it following through?

I'm really trying to get the word out, but cannot afford any extra cost at this time.
I'm up for any suggestions.

Geri

Lingerie Leather Jewelry and more
www.bedtymegalscloset.com

[Adrienne Akinsete]

Our business, auto repair, is built on trust; therefore, personal selling and referals has been the best method of advertising. Although you may think it's free, it really isn't. I pay dues and memberships to belong to various networking and local business groups. I purchase and support my clients, and potential clients in their businesses. I send out mailings, and emails to keep in touch and keep my Brand front and center.

The nice thing about this type of marketing is you can scale the dollar cost to fit your budget. The real cost is in the time you invest.

Thanks for asking

http://www.womenautoknow.net

[Kimberly Chadburn]

I do a home based business and when I started marketing I typed in free classifieds into both google and yahoo because they each will have some different ones that pop up.
From there I started creating accounts and posting on the free sites. Some of them are free, but will encourage you to upgrade for a certain amount of money. Some sites are free, but not for business advertising. I personally post about 50-75 ads a day and I just started my business, and am getting about 25-30 visits to my website a day using free advertising. But I use other methods of advertising as well that are free. Message boards are a great way to advertise, but you have to check the rules before posting to message boards. Some message boards don't allow you to advertise, but you can still put your business in your signature line for those message boards and still get some advertising out. I also have my business in my signature line for all my e-mails, including all my fowarded e-mails. And I also post up fliers around my area wherever there are boards to put them up. All the fliers cost me is some ink from my printer and paper.
Like I said, I basically just started doing this about 2 months ago, working from home. So, 25-30 web visits from about 50-75 ads a day is pretty good. And from those 25-30 web visit a day I probably get anywhere from 5-10 people to request more information on working from home.
Most of it depends on what you're advertising. If it's a home business I find the best time to up your efforts and try to post more than your normal is the end of the month. This is the time when most people really start looking into working from home and are more likely to request more information and sign up under you to start their own home business.
Hope this helps.

Kim Chadburn
Proud Member of Internet CEO Moms
Moms Helping Moms Work From Home
www.HomeWithCorbin.com
[e-mail]

[Leah O]

Hi Geri. I started my first business in 2006 and have learned a thing or two about free and very low cost advertising.

These are methods I've used w/good results:

Reciprocal links with RELEVANT websites. This means only link with sites that have the same customer base/ industry.

Writing articles about what I know and adding useful links to my site in each one. You can submit articles to sites like Digg, and Linked In groups, About.com and on your blog.

Give something for free, but not really. You can give samples of a product or useful information for free, but it's best to get customers to sign up to a mailing list, newsletter or rewards program first.

Donate money(it doesn't have to be a lot) or hold a fundraiser for a charity/local organization.

Collaborate with other business owners. Some options are to host blog interviews, promote each others products/services and start a referral group.

Use a site like Twitter and Facebook to spread word of mouth.

Adrienne and Kimberly gave you great advice, classified ads and networking are definitely worth the time and money.

I work on Investing In Women, a free business resource site offering micro-grants for women business owners. You can find more information there, iiwomen.com