Affordable New Advertising for Local Business

If you run a business, you already know that advertising is key to getting the word out about your company. As a local business, there are many advertising mediums that may be cost effective for your current needs. You might have advertised on radio, television, newspapers, phone books, and even sponsored small events. Are you still struggling by though, and need new effective ways to advertise? Or do you just want to see a steady increase in the customer store visits that already have? Then read on and learn of a new little known, inexpensive method that can drastically increase your in store revenues.

Let's first look at some of the advertising sources you probably go through now for new local client?.

Newspapers: Newspapers are good for getting the word out it may seem for the most part. You can place a small display ad for about $500.00 a day. While the the expensiveness of this method can be a debatable subject, we all know not everyone can afford this price on a daily basis. It's just too expensive for he smaller mom and pop store to advertise to the consumer. Your ad isn't guaranteed to be read in a newspaper either, and there is a good chance you won't have much success without at least one month of solid ad exposure.

Radio: I hate to say this about radio, but with the addition of newer medias this is a dying method of advertising. Aside from technology, putting entertainment more and more into the hands of listeners and less into the hands of the stations, there's the cost. Costs can run you about the same as a newspaper display ad but unlike with newspapers, it can be a lot more hard to be guaranteed any listeners for your advertising campaign. Radio stations can only guarantee a population radius of reception.

Television: While television costs are indeed going down for advertising, there is a reason for this. The real estate is thinning out with the explosion of many diverse channel networks not to mention cable on demand services. Production of a cheesy looking commercial can cost you somewhere in the thousands, and running your advertising campaign daily can cost you far more than your production to ensure your message gets across to your audience. Many commercials are muted these days by viewers lets not forget. Many people watch television for entertainment and find commercials mostly as another daily nuisance in their hectic lives.

Phone Directories: Costs for a basic listing can run in the hundreds not to mention the cost of display advertising or incentive coupons. Phone directories though are not a bad option at all. In a directory you are listed under your local industry and people that are actively seeking and ready to spend money on such services/products can find you. There is not much bad to say about a phone directory really with the exception of pricing.

For now that is all I will talk about in terms of traditional advertising mediums, I know, there are more, and yes I didn't mention online advertising opportunities either, which there are many great opportunities for a local business, but there are other articles that can be used to focus on that particular subject later. What I really want to do now is open your eyes to a new untouched advertising source that will ultimately benefit your local business and it's overall advertising dollar value grabbing your customers and better yet, at the point of the purchasing or visit decision.

Yes, a new advertising service is available that gives you local recognition while giving you measurable insight on the effectiveness of your advertising campaign with no additional tools required. What if I told you that each time someone looked in the Yellow pages of a phone directory that you could be the first business they saw? No other business, just yours? Well, what if I also told you that the same person looking for your type of business actually was handed a phone with your business number already dialed and ringing? Would you want to purchase that type of advertisement? I bet you would, but you probably wouldn't be able to afford it, or at least that's what your thinking right now as I mention this. First off I'll say advertising this effective is possible and does indeed exists. Affordable though? Answer is again, yes.

The advertising service I speak of is probably from a company you have already heard of. A company that as we speak, Google is trying to replicate. The company is 1-800-FREE 411 and this company has compiled a database of every local business in the US and has them listed in every category of industry for the American consumer to find from their phones for free.

When a caller calls the information service for a phone number they are fed a quick advertisement of a payed advertiser (competitor) and given the option to connect to the other business free of charge. The business that receives the call pays for the potential customer a one flat fee for the connection. What the business pays can be very little, as little as $3.00, but what is even better is what your paying for. Your paying for a highly motivated customer, who is ready to buy or visit your store or place of business. What would you rate that out of 1 and 10 for advertising value?

I think you can see what this service can mean for you and your business. Increased consumer awareness, greater brand recognition, and faster sales conversion just to name a few, right? Well this service exists for business owners and with over 20 million free 411 calls a month, you can be sure someone is calling information for one of your competitors right now or in the very near future.

As far as affordable, they currently (as of 2007) require a minimum deposit of $100.00 which also includes a free voice commercial read from your own written 250 word script. With no production fees or contracts, you can obviously see the overall value and cost effectiveness of this form of advertising. It might be wise to test drive the service for the minimum deposit and see for yourself how effective this advertising really can be for your own local business, your competition will be soon I'm sure.

This article was written by Aaron Siegel of TopSavings.Net which provides FREE 411 advertising services to local and nationwide businesses. Visit for more information and rates on advertising : www.topsavings.net/advertising/411-advertising.html For larger of $100,000.00 + campaigns email info@topsavings.net with "FREE 411" in the subject line. Additionally other phone service and Internet access are offered to business and residential consumers through the site. NOTE: All links must be active within this article for publication rights.