Now that you have your home business established, you will want to start advertising. There are many avenues of advertising, for this article we will stick to the free to low costs methods.
The first thing you will want to do is send an email to all of your family and friends announcing your new business (make sure it is just to your family and friends as you don't want to spam). Give a brief description of your business and ask that they forward your email to 3 of their family or friends. This should not be an email pressuring them to purchase or sign up in any way. Rather, to do you a favor of passing along your announcement. You will be surprised at how many people this will reach and all for free.
Next, you will want to put your web site address (if you have one) on all of your correspondence. Start with adding it to your email, return address labels and so forth. If you do not have a web site, perhaps you could use a phone number, email or some other source of contact information. The important thing is to get the word out.
Invest in some business cards. There are several ways this can be done. If you are handy with the computer, you can make them yourself. It does not have to be anything fancy. Just something with your business information will do. There are several different styles of business cards you can choose from to print on. Another way is to have them made professionally. Now before you go off spending a lot of money, do some research. There are some companies, such as Vista Print, that offer free business cards. Yes, I said free. They will ask if you want to upgrade and add extra options to your cards, but that is up to you. I would just stick to the free cards for now. You can always go back at another time and order something else.
Once you have your business cards, put them everywhere. I mean everywhere. Send one out with each piece of mail (yes, even your bills). Leave them at restaurants with the tip. On bulletin boards at supermarkets, laundry mats, colleges, etc. Always make sure you have some in your car and on your person at all times.
Another good method of advertising is your vehicle. Bumper stickers or signs are a good means of getting the word out. Again, if you do some research, you can find some great deals on custom made bumper stickers. One such place is makestickers.com. They offer a reasonable price for a quality sticker. Your neighborhood office supply store should have the supplies needed to make a sign for your car. This would involve a magnet and some self adhesive lettering.
The important thing to remember is to get the word out to as many people as possible. If you use your imagination, the possibilities are endless.
By: Lori Gorman