One of the most common setbacks that small businesses have had to deal with since back before anyone can remember, is getting enough exposure so that they can put their product or their service to the front of people’s minds. You might have the best little cake shop in town, but if no one in the next town over even knows that it exists, what good is that going to do for your bottom line?

No matter what business that you are in, if your mom and pop shop is going to compete in the marketplace, you have to be able to market yourself and your business and make sure that people know that your business exists.

Small business owners commonly struggle with the fact that they are masters of their craft, but not masters of advertising. Well, this is one area where you either have to pay to play, OR, you have to get your hands a little dirt and dig into the process of marketing your small business.

And no, you don’t have to go to school to learn the basics of marketing your small business effectively.

Here are 4 tips to promote your mom and pop shop to the masses:

1. Create a time sensitive promotion, even if it only breaks even as far as the profits go.

Let’s say that you really do have the best cake shop in town. Well, there are certain holiday weekends throughout the year where people pretty much expect to have cake. Why not take one of these weekends and run a special selling those cakes at half price? Even if you do not make much profit off of the initial jump, you will have an easy time getting people into your shop and learning who you are and more importantly, getting a taste for themselves of the best cakes in town.

2. Flyer, flyer and flyer some more.

A lot of people look down at the power of using flyers as a way to market and promote their business, but when they are done right, they can be VERY effective. The key is to not just go around town and putting them on every car and store window that you can find, but getting them out in front of people that you know will be looking for your product or services. Many towns will have convention centers where anyone with a business related to weddings will meet up and promote their businesses, so if you had a cake shop, you would definitely want to at least get your flyers noticed there.

3. Pool your financial resources together and buy a radio spot.

Many small businesses don’t ever really look too deep into how affordable it can be to buy local radio advertising, as long as you know how to get the most bang for your buck. You want to find the most affordable solution that will put your product or service in front of an audience that will already want what you have. Sometimes you can buy off peak hours at incredibly low prices and end up coming out way on top with all the revenue that it generates. Just don’t go in with an open wallet and no idea of what you are doing and expect it to pan out well.

4. Get a website.

If you have not already got one of these up and running, then go ahead and do it now. Today, you can get even a simple little website up and running for very little money and you can get a vehicle to show off what you are offering and why people should look at you and your business. If you think that it is impossible to put up a simple website, think again. There are numerous free resources available that can show you how to put up a simple site to promote your small business and it will hardly put much of a dent in your budget at all. And once the money and sales come in because of that website, well, you will be smiling!

Promoting your small business today can be challenging and rewarding. No time before us has it been so easy for a small business to gain widespread exposure, as long as you are aware of the many different advertising and promotional channels that you can use to promote your small business. The mom and pop shop CAN survive today, as long as they think BEYOND their small market and bring themselves to the bigger picture.

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Category: Marketing
Keywords: small business marketing,small business marketing tips,promote small business,promote mom and pop