Advertising - For Small Businesses (Part 1)

Is it right for you?

If you decide to advertise your productor service then you must ask yourself - "Will potentialcustomers read this publication and will they take actionhaving read my ad?"

National newspapers - Read by a huge cross section of thepopulation. If you're inserting a display ad then it wouldneed to be professionally designed and you'd need to be init for the long run. It would be expensive and I don't seeany small to medium sized business justifying the cost. Itmay suit you better to use the classified advertising in thenational newspapers - again, it depends on the type pfbusiness you're in. Check out what your competitors aredoing and if their in it, then perhaps you need to be.

Local newspapers - May be more appropriate for your businessparticularly if you only want business from the local area.Again, you must be prepared to consider an ad every day orat least once a week for several weeks. Classified ads maybe more suitable for your business particularly if you havea product or service that people would look up theclassifieds to find.

Business/Trade magazines - There's a magazine published foralmost every business you could think of. They are oftenproduced by Trade Associations. If, for example, yourproduct or service is used by plumbers and heatingengineers, then it makes sense to advertise in theirmagazine. Use the internet to find the magazine orassociation you want.

Consumer magazines - If your product or service is used bythe consumer, then this is for you. These again can targetspecific markets. I know of an image consultant who alsodoes wedding makeup. She advertises her makeup service inwedding magazines. She also, separately, advertises herimage service to the mother of the bride in the samemagazine. Think about the people who buy your product orservice and there's bound to be a specialist magazine thatthey read.

Magazines last longer - You'll get more mileage out of amagazine as they tend to be read several times. They mostlycome out once a month so people take more time to read andre-read them. You'll find a list of business and consumermagazines at: www.refdesk.com/mag.html

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