A savvy business owner can promote a business in a number of ways without spending a lot of money. Use your community networks to generate publicity for your business. Everywhere you go, tell someone about your business. Write some press releases for the local paper or send in pictures; local papers are always looking for human interest articles about what people in the community are doing.
Offer yourself as a speaker for local groups or radio programs. Conduct a free workshop at your business as a way to get people to come in and learn about something related to what you do. You could use ongoing community events (farmers' markets, craft fairs, church suppers, athletic events, etc.) to offer samples or door prizes and to get feedback.
Another effective strategy is to use your existing customers to bring in new business. You might offer a discount or a free gift to any current customer who brings in a new customer. An idea that has worked for some businesses is to partner with another business to co-promote your businesses. For example, a vegetable grower might partner with some local bed and breakfasts to offer special discounts to guests who come to the farm to pick berries or pumpkins or to cut a Christmas tree.
If there is a local college or university nearby, invite the professor and the marketing class to use your business as a case study and offer suggestions for promoting your business.
These are just a few ideas that other business owners have found useful. You should give yourself permission to be creative. The important thing is to evaluate the effectiveness of any strategy that you try. If something isn't working, try something else.
