By Jan Smith

The most underused way of advertising a business is to talk about it to family and friends. Why more people don't talk about their business as openly or as often as they could is part of human nature that needs to be slowly and diplomatically overcome.

Most business people don't talk about their business to family and friends very much simply because they feel that their family/friends might feel 'obliged' to use their services or buy from them. It is a fine line that needs to be walked but it does need to be walked.

Telling family and friends about your business with a sense of excitement and hope, will not make your family feel obliged to buy from you. Firstly, you need to be very aware that no one can make anyone, do something that they don't want to do.

If your family needs something that you supply, then all things being normal, they will naturally buy off you or ask you to do the service job for them. They should not expect, nor ask, for a freebie either. As a token of your love for them you may certainly offer them "family rates" but don't do, or give product or service away. You are now in business and you and your family need to treat this as a business arrangement.

By talking with your family and friends first, you will have started off the best advertising campaign ever by using word of mouth or W.O.M. This is the best advertising you can ever get and it really is the only really 'free' advertising available. Everyone loves to be associated with a winner so by passing on a recommendation to a friend, about your business, people see as something good to be associated with. This is good advertising that every business wants and one that can never be bought.

The real meaning of 'free advertising' is really 'cheaper than paid advertising'. Talking is totally free; telling people about your business any other way will involve a cost of some degree. Even if it is just the paper and the ink, it still costs money. But if you are finding these minimal costs prohibitive, then perhaps you really should be looking for a job and not trying to run a business.

If you are starting a business because you can't find a job, then what you are really doing is 'buying' yourself a job. This is a different way of thinking to someone who wants a real business. A real business is something that they/you know about and can build up as an asset that can be sold sometime in the future.

A cheaper form of advertising your small business is to make good use of notice boards in shopping centres. I am supposing here that you have a computer and can use it to print off flyers and notices, although these too can be done by handwriting by someone who can print or write clearly. These notices need to have the bottom quarter cut into tear-off strips with your phone number on it for people to tear off and take away. The top should tell people what you can do for them and tell them to take your phone number from a strip below. It is important here that you tell people the benefit of your services and give them a way to easily contact you.

Many local commercial radio stations in Australia have a session called the community noticeboard. If you are offering a service to pensioners or a special rate to the local football club or whatever, they most likely will put a radio announcement in their bulletin board for you.

Another way to advertise your business is through the local primary schools newsletter. Here once again you could offer 10% or whatever of your cost to be paid into the P&C school funds.

Another idea is to use your friendly neighbourhood watch newsletter. In exchange for adding in a notice about your business service, you could offer to distribute a suburbs newsletter for them.

Do you have a friend who lives in a prominent place with lots of traffic passing by? Would they be kind enough to allow you to put a discreet but noticeable sign on their fence? Worth a try.

What about your car? Do you or could you, leave it parked in a prominent place with a sign on it?

Another way is to find someone who is prepared to walk around a busy shopping area with carrying a sandwich board draped over their shoulders and handing out flyers. Before attempting this though make sure you have the shopping centre managements permission.

Distributing flyers is one of the cheaper ways to advertise your business. If you have a computer and can make up flyers using the free graphics available with the windows programme, then you can walk around your neighbourhoods and put the flyers in letter boxes.

Lastly, don't forget the business card. The humble business card is inexpensive off the internet (they are free and you only have to pay for postage and handling) and you will need these for several purposes. It is important that you always have a business card on you to give out to people when you meet them and another use for them is to be put in letterboxes instead of flyers.

I am often surprised by how many business people forget their business cards. If you are trying to run a business, they should go along with your credit card so you don't leave home without them!