How to Advertise Free

<h1>How to Advertise Free</h1>Author: <a title="Bill Meyer" href="http://www.articlesbase.com/authors/bill-meyer/63225.htm">Bill Meyer</a> Right now, big companies are constantly asking their advertising agencies for an advertising idea that goes viral.  What they are really asking for is free advertising.  While nothing in life is really free there are ways to get free advertising or at least dramatically reduce the cost.
 
There are many techniques you can use to get free advertising.  Which ones you choose may depend on the nature of your business and how free you want your ads to be. Here are some ideas to think about.
 
General Free Advertising Ideas
Networking is one of the oldest, easiest and most effective ways to advertise.  Look for events and activities that impact your business and plan to be there.  Try and meet as many people as possible and at least give out business cards.  The only cost to you is time and your business cards.
 
Another inexpensive way to advertise is flyers.  Many organizations will allow flyers to be posted.  Senior citizen centers, schools, libraries etc.  all have places where products and services can be posted.  The only cost to you here is the getting the flyers printed and taking time to distribute them.  Some people even have magnetic signs made that attach to the sides of their car.  If you are frequently on the road, this may be a good way to advertise your company. 
 
There are also sites like merchantcircle.com and craigslist.com.  They give you the opportunity to advertise your business online at no real cost to you even if you don't have a website. 
 
Press Releases are another way to advertise for free.  If you can supply interesting business news and keep it to just the facts you will likely be allowed to run your PR. 
 
Frequently if you are already paying for some advertising then publications may provide you with a certain amount of editorial space.  This usually happens when you already have a significant relationship with that publication. But it can also happen when you are new and they are trying to get your business.  The great thing about this free editorial space is that it looks like a story about your company and it appears that an outside source is providing the material.  So it can look like a powerful endorsement. 
 
Product placement is another way to get free advertising.  If you have a product you can send it to various TV and movie studio prop departments.  Of course you have no control over when or if your product will ever be used.  However, if it does show up you will be thrilled with the free exposure.  Unfortunately, studios have gotten smart about the value of this exposure so now there are people who specifically on product placement.  However, you may get luck and all it costs is the price of sending your product to the studios.
 
Viral Marketing
Now, let's get back to the subject of free viral advertising.  In a nutshell, viral advertising is creating something so creative that people want to share it with others on their own.  It gets sent around the internet without you having to pay for it. The key here is that the advertising has to be extremely creative.  Increasingly, that means it's probably some sort of video that people just feel like they have to share with everyone.
 
Since these creative pieces are typically passed from one friend to another they never get tagged as spam.  When you see something from someone you know they odds are very good that you will not only accept it but you will also click on it. In the case of viral marketing you will also pass it on to some of your friends.  
 
When something does go viral there is also usually a lot of free PR that comes along with it.  All of this keeps adding exposure to your company and you website.  The expression that you can't pay for this kind of advertising really applies here. 
 
The cost of viral marketing is really dependent on the cost of the initial creative piece that gets sent around.  Typically things that go viral are not slick, well polished pieces.  There are by nature more like home movies or amateur production pieces. 
 
In all of these free advertising concepts you can see that there are some costs to you either in the form of time or an initial production like business cards, flyers, products etc.   But it's still much less expensive than traditional advertising methods and in some cases it may be more impactful. About the Author: Dennis Maher has been an advertising agency veteran of 15 years. He has helped one brand grow from $30M in sales to over $300M in sales. Another of his clients grew 15% a year for 3 consecutive years while others in the category had declining sales. For more information about how to advertise free go to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.how-to-advertise-free.blogspot.com">http://www.how-to-advertise-free.blogspot.com</a>Article Source: <a href="http://www.articlesbase.com/">ArticlesBase.com</a> - <a href="http://www.articlesbase.com/small-business-articles/how-to-advertise-free-443549.html" title="How to Advertise Free">How to Advertise Free</a>

Right now, big companies are constantly asking their advertising agencies for an advertising idea that goes viral. What they are really asking for is free advertising. While nothing in life is really free there are ways to get free advertising or at least dramatically reduce the cost.

There are many techniques you can use to get free advertising. Which ones you choose may depend on the nature of your business and how free you want your ads to be. Here are some ideas to think about.

General Free Advertising Ideas

Networking is one of the oldest, easiest and most effective ways to advertise. Look for events and activities that impact your business and plan to be there. Try and meet as many people as possible and at least give out business cards. The only cost to you is time and your business cards.

Another inexpensive way to advertise is flyers. Many organizations will allow flyers to be posted. Senior citizen centers, schools, libraries etc. all have places where products and services can be posted. The only cost to you here is the getting the flyers printed and taking time to distribute them. Some people even have magnetic signs made that attach to the sides of their car. If you are frequently on the road, this may be a good way to advertise your company.

There are also sites like merchantcircle.com and craigslist.com. They give you the opportunity to advertise your business online at no real cost to you even if you don't have a website.

Press Releases are another way to advertise for free. If you can supply interesting business news and keep it to just the facts you will likely be allowed to run your PR.

Frequently if you are already paying for some advertising then publications may provide you with a certain amount of editorial space. This usually happens when you already have a significant relationship with that publication. But it can also happen when you are new and they are trying to get your business. The great thing about this free editorial space is that it looks like a story about your company and it appears that an outside source is providing the material. So it can look like a powerful endorsement.

Product placement is another way to get free advertising. If you have a product you can send it to various TV and movie studio prop departments. Of course you have no control over when or if your product will ever be used. However, if it does show up you will be thrilled with the free exposure. Unfortunately, studios have gotten smart about the value of this exposure so now there are people who specifically on product placement. However, you may get luck and all it costs is the price of sending your product to the studios.

Viral Marketing

Now, let's get back to the subject of free viral advertising. In a nutshell, viral advertising is creating something so creative that people want to share it with others on their own. It gets sent around the internet without you having to pay for it. The key here is that the advertising has to be extremely creative. Increasingly, that means it's probably some sort of video that people just feel like they have to share with everyone.

Since these creative pieces are typically passed from one friend to another they never get tagged as spam. When you see something from someone you know they odds are very good that you will not only accept it but you will also click on it. In the case of viral marketing you will also pass it on to some of your friends.

When something does go viral there is also usually a lot of free PR that comes along with it. All of this keeps adding exposure to your company and you website. The expression that you can't pay for this kind of advertising really applies here.

The cost of viral marketing is really dependent on the cost of the initial creative piece that gets sent around. Typically things that go viral are not slick, well polished pieces. There are by nature more like home movies or amateur production pieces.

In all of these free advertising concepts you can see that there are some costs to you either in the form of time or an initial production like business cards, flyers, products etc. But it's still much less expensive than traditional advertising methods and in some cases it may be more impactful.

Dennis Maher has been an advertising agency veteran of 15 years. He has helped one brand grow from $30M in sales to over $300M in sales. Another of his clients grew 15% a year for 3 consecutive years while others in the category had declining sales. For more information about how to advertise free go to http://www.how-to-advertise-free.blogspot.com

Rate this Article:

0 / 5 stars - 0 vote(s)

Re-Publish

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/small-business-articles/how-to-advertise-free-443549.html

Article Tags: how-to-advertise-free, advertise, free, online, google, yahoo

Ask / Related Q&A

Latest Small Business Articles
More from Bill Meyer

Start A Small Home Based Business Of Your Own Right Away! It Is Easy And Fun! Make 2010 Your Best Year Ever!

By: Father Time | 01/01/2010
You can get your own home based business started in 2010 and then you won't have to be a slave at that job!

General Procedure of Custom Envelopes Printing

By: Sara Criss | 31/12/2009
This is actually a holistic procedure of full color printing that a regular customer should follow it without feeling any sort of ambiguity or problem. All you have to do is to match up with your recognized online printing company’s dedicated 24/7 online customer support representatives on live support chat.

IS IT JUST SUPPLIES OR AN OPPORTUNITY TO STREAMLINE AND HELP THE BOTTOM LINE?

By: Francisco Jaramillo | 31/12/2009
In this article, Francisco Jaramillo advises on an easy way for small and medium sized businesses to cut costs in the procurement of office supplies. He explains a common misconception of administrative assistance on saving money and provides suggestions on how to help the bottom line by using top suppliers and streamlining their purchasing habits while consolidating vendors.

Should You Rent or Buy Office Space?

By: Scott A. McPherson, CPA, CFG, CVA | 31/12/2009
Traditional thinking says that for families, buying makes much more sense than renting. But in the case of businesses, leasing a space (rather than purchasing one) often seems to be suggested as a more prudent choice. However, if you're a business owner, it would greatly behoove you to evaluate what makes sense for your company in terms of renting versus owning property. After all, buying may actually be a good long-term strategy… as long as you plan it carefully with your financial manager.

A Prefect Corporate Events Planning Guide in Florida

By: Henry Funk | 31/12/2009
Welcome to Eventus Corporate, a perfect guide to plan, execute your business, corporate events successfully. From meeting & workshop to training and seminars we know that every detail and every penny is important.

Accounting Outsourcing Services Enhance Your Business Profits

By: Alvis Brazma | 31/12/2009
Accounting outsourcing service is the best way you can relieve yourself of all the accounting responsibilities. But make sure you select the best service, for which you will carry out a thorough research also.

Let the Japanese media publish your technology

By: lyriclabs | 31/12/2009
Japan is a very small country and its culture, value and traditions are unique. Around 120 million residents of Japan speak the Japanese language. The Chinese and Korean people also use this as a second language that was under the Japanese occupation. The vocabulary of Japanese language has influence of Chinese language since more words are borrowed from that language. Also Japanese language borrowed a lot of words from Indo-European languages, mainly English.

How to Quickly and Easily Sell Your Antiques Online

By: Cartess Ross | 31/12/2009
This article reveals how antique dealers can use the Internet to quickly and easily sell their antiques online.

How to Lose Weight Fast and Safe

By: Bill Meyer | 09/06/2008 | Weight Loss
Some people can eat anything they want and never seem to gain any weight. These fortunate few have been blessed with a naturally high metabolism. The rest of us have to find a way to increase our metabolism in order to lose weight fast and safe.

How to Advertise Free

By: Bill Meyer | 09/06/2008 | Small Business
Right now, big companies are constantly asking their advertising agencies for an advertising idea that goes viral. What they are really asking for is free advertising. While nothing in life is really free there are ways to get free advertising or at least dramatically reduce the cost.