24 Cost Effective Ways to Promote Your Small Business

After thinking long and hard you have decided that is time to launch your own business.  You have a great product or service, you’ve come up with a compelling business name, all the paperwork has been filed and you have picked out the perfect location (or setup a snazzy new home office).  All pieces are in place for your new independent life as a business owner.  And then you realize that nobody except your spouse, family members and possibly your cat knows about your new venture.   So, how do you bring your fabulous new product or service to your target market's attention?  One way is to use the “build it and they will come” approach.  This is usually not particularly effective (even Google, who historically launches products with little fanfare, could benefit from a little more marketing).  The other, more effective approach is to get out there and promote your business.  Of course in the initial stages, marketing budgets tend to be minuscule.  On the other hand, many new business owners have time on their hands, while they wait to be deluged by orders.  Below is a list of 24 cost effective ways to promote your small business: