I'll go first
 

DH has a small business, I have another totally separate from his. Both have been crazy busy for the last ten years. Until now. I'm willing to do some small advertising, what give me the most coverage for my $$? Business specific newsletters or magazines, local publications, or national? I realize the target audience makes a difference. His business is mostly local, mine is in the tri-state area (PA, NJ, NY) but could possibly be expanded to other states.

Any advertising guru's on here?

Do You have a web site? I get a lot of hits from mine.All I have is a free webs page. I imagine if you had someone set up a nice web page for you ,you could generate interest locally and an expanded area. I am not an advertising guru though.

What type of business are you in?

Clove

I HAD a website for several years. Over 65% of the e-mails I received were from people wanting to start the same business. While I'm all for helping others, I can't spend all my time giving advice to the people who think 'maybe I'll do this' out there. I should just write a book :eek: Perhaps it is time to re-think the website idea. I suppose I could just ignore the maybe's who just want info.

My business is fairly unique, and I'm not being coy by not mentioning what it is. I promised DH, who hates the internet, that I would never post anything that would allow the nutbars who hang out on the net to find us. No identifying photos, no locations, no business names or specifics. Sort of puts a crimp in my advertising I can tell you! Most of my business is thru word of mouth, but I'm concerned with this economy that will not be enough...

i will give my opinion on newsprint advertising.......the newsprint is daily and people end up throwing it away daily. they line their gardens with it.

it further problematic as more and more people have stopped reading newspapers and go online for news.

the most successful newsprint are those companies that advertise each day in the newspaper. at least that has been my experience. it can be effective but requires a constant exposure and in turn a sizable budget.

if most of your business is word of mouth, it might be better to add incentive somehow for one customer to mention your business for another potential customer. just a thought

Earlier this year we were in the Washington Post - we got about 1 column inch in an article, not an ad - and the response was amazing. Our phones were ringing off the hook from 7am on the day of publication and for months afterwards people were calling based on that article. I just mention this to show that people do still read newspapers (I do not think the article hit the online version) and they do remember what they read.

Can you at least tell us something?

I am not to eager to share what I specifically sell on ebay, except for "printed items".

I would guess that you need to find the publications that you are going to find the biggest niche for your item.

Advertising anywhere is going to be expensive.

As the old adage goes, "I know 1/2 of my advertising is working. I just don't know which 1/2 it is."

Clove

I've found that the local, free magazine / newspapers give me the biggest advertising bang for the buck. Then again, I'm a little local store.

We do get people coming in on vacation who saw our website, so that's definitely not money wasted.

Your biggest advertising coup will be to get the local newspaper to do a human interest story on your business. Contact the business writer, pitch them the idea of writing up your business, and have them come out and do an interview. It doesn't cost you anything, and people do read those articles.

Clovis, it is an equine related business. I have advertised in Equine only publications, but there are many levels of such. The most exclusive of these are big $$$. My customers are mostly mid-range owners. Like Attorneys, Nurses, mid-management types. Hardly any of my customers are local. DH's business is just the opposite, local only, and he has never had to advertise. People come up to him in Walmart and Lowes...

Jasper, thank you for your input. I do offer a 'referral' discount. Unfortunately, while that does bring me some business, it also means they aren't too particular about who they refer me to. Some of whom have turned into real deadbeats, something that is common in the equine world. I just had to take out a Judgment to get rid of the latest one :( Thankfully, it worked.

I guess there is no quick get rich scheme out there, is there? ;)

All opinions are helpful to me, keep 'em coming!

I wouldn't give away any information about your business, ever. You had to figure it out, right? No other business in the world is going to tell you their secrets to success...and you shouldn't either!

With the emails, I would be nice, but give a canned speech: "Thank you for contacting us. While the equine business can be fun and rewarding, it is a difficult business to be successful. We wish you all the success in the world."

Clove

I have found in business:

The bad customers will only refer other bad customers. Seems like they must not hang out or know any good customers.

I got to the point of NEVER following up on a referral from a bad customer, ever.

Maybe I am dead wrong on this approach.....

Well, I don't give out information on pricing, contracts, particulars. But when I started in this business, there was only one other person who provided this same service. I contacted her, and she was quite gracious about helping me with the generalities, but withheld the particulars,which is what I try to do as well. Now there are dozens of us who do this, some of who are much less gracious when it comes to being nice, and playing fair. Its probably that way in most business, I imagine. I won't do internships for this reason, and neither will DH in his business. If we are going to give our ideas, contacts, and hard won business away, it will be to our children, or it will be at cost.

Its a shame it has to be this way, I love to help people, if possible. But not at the risk of hurting my business, and ultimately my family.

Right now, I just need to grow my business a bit.

I am a working mom who also goes to school. I need to double my income quickly to meet some of my savings goals for a land purchase I plan on making in the near future. I am looking for a successful home-based business that requires no, to very little, financial investment. Right now, I have just dipped my toe into selling used back issues of magazines on ebay but what I am really interested is in maybe selling how-to-books or farming, sustainable living, green-living, animal husbandry, etc., kind. Does anyone know of a good wholesaler or even one that does drop shipping?

I would also like to hear from others who have a successful home-based internet business that I could do as well. I have tried Melaluca, Amway, Avon, Mary-Kay, Ameriplan, Herbalife and the only one I came close to making any money was Ameriplan until they changed their bonus structure, then I dropped them.

I am open to any honest advice.

Various businesses I worked for have had different approaches to advertising. I worked several years in a custom slaughter house and word-of-mouth kept us busy throughout butchering season. During deer season, we printed and distrubted flyers to all the local stores within a 50-mile radius to let the hunters who were not local know of our services.

I was a bookkeeper for a lady who co-hosted a love advice column on one of the local radio stations. It was great publicity for her business and she attracted customers from the surrounding counties who otherwise wouldn't have known she existed.

Another job as an office manager for a restaurant led me into direct mail marketing and newsletter design. It was successful, but there is alot of overhead involved in getting a bulk mail permit, not to mention the tedious hours of keeping up with maintenance of a mailing list. As far as our mailing list went, we simply offered a monthly drawing for a free dinner in exchange for the customers contact information.

Currently my own business advertising is word-of-mouth and repeat customers. I am in the process of printing flyers to pass out to promote items of interest to hunters. I also keep a supply of self-printed business cards to hand out with my name and phone number on them.

Maggie

[QUOTE=EarthSheltered;3348771]I'm willing to do some small advertising, what give me the most coverage for my $$? /QUOTE]


What about horse shows, and equine trade shows? Seems like it would put you face to face with the buyers and decision makers.

I have found when a person really works a trade show, the leads and new customers can be huge.

Without even any "generalities" to work from, it's a bit difficult to offer much practical advice. What I can do ... since my current "business" actually is horses/ponies ... and I previously did commissioned "art" portraits of dogs and horses ... is tell you what worked for me some 10 years and more ago ... pre-Internet.

Sounds like whatever you are selling may not be all that "marketable" via Internet, or else the restrictions your husband wants makes it difficult.

In any case ... with the horses themselves, I will say that Internet advertising is, in my opinion, the only way to go. I spent $1000s of dollars on national magazine advertising when I was living in Montana ... pre-Internet ... and did not have anywhere near the sales-to-advertising dollar return I have had with my website. I have done a couple of small "local/regional" ads since I've been here, in publications that I would have expected to get one or two calls from at least, with absolutely no response. Even the local sales or breedings I've gotten contacted me through on-line advertising.

I try to keep my website reasonably updated and "quick" to read. My sales page I definitely try to keep current and while I only have one photo of each sale horse, I have additional photo albums up on Webshots with a link to the additional photos. My next project is to manage to get video clips and get them uploaded, though that is going to require outside help ... I do not have access to high speed internet and the video clips are simply too slow for me to manage myself.

I also place on-line classified ads as well, usually try to keep one or two up most of the time, stallion service ads if nothing else ... which will bring inquiries which I can refer to my website or Webshots albums. I do have "canned" messages for very general inquiries to save time ... can easily add an additional paragraph or two if there are specific questions.

I haven't worked at my artwork the past 9 years since I've been in Kentucky, though I am going to try to work up a marketing plan and see where it goes.

I had been in Montana, in that general area, for 30-some years so had established somewhat of a presence as an artist that specifically did commissioned portraits of horses and dogs. In addition, did some "western nostalgia" type things and kept one or two pieces in one of the local art galleries all the time. The sales percentages didn't work well (the galleries routinely get 30% to 50% of the sales price and you have to pay for your own framing so it is ready to hang) but the exposure to a wider potential market was worth it if I could just break even on the gallery art sales.

I also had a booth setup and went to half a dozen dog and horse/livestock shows through the summer/fall months. In addition, I did two "established" fine art shows in the area that were held every fall and were particularly good for Christmas gift sales ... some of which were commissioned portraits, others just "breed specific" artwork or generic western/nostalgic type things.

I have done some "research" since I've been in Kentucky and find that the "art show" circuit is pretty much non-existant for paintings/sculpture "fine art" ... the people in this area are looking for "fine crafts" ... quilts, baskets, pottery, etc.

The western "art and craft shows" where I exhibited were probably 90% "fine art" ... paintings, drawings, pastels, sculpture. The "art and craft shows" that I have been to here in Kentucky are the opposite ... if 10% of the exhibitors have paintings of some kind, that is a lot. I've been to several shows where there were none, in fact. And there are no "local" galleries that feature much "fine art" ... most of them are displaying "fine crafts". This basically leaves me with no opportunities for booth sales or even galleries, so I'm looking at Internet possibilities.

The other project I'm start up with is rabbits ... primarily for my own table ... but I started with pedigreed animals so may have a small local/regional market for breeding stock and will have some that lend themselves to "pet" sales.

The rabbits will have to be local sales although I do expect to add a website for them, separate from the horses. If I advertise the rabbits at all, it will be with small flyers posted on the local feed store bulletin boards ... but I suspect I may rely more on the online classifieds such as Craigs list.

My husband had a part-time home business for a number of years connected to the tobacco/agricultural industry. He ran a small print ad in a newsprint magazine (monthly) during the pre-planting season and did 2 or 3 agricultural shows a year "locally" ... northern TN and KY. He did no on-line advertising, much of the business was word of mouth and particularly through sales reps that were working for the seed companies and the local county agricultural agents. However, when the tobacco business was pretty much eliminated except for the big commercial growers, that was the end of his business as well.

I have had this same situation too, although I can't very well ignore those folks. Being a writer, I rely on my readers and cannot risk alienating them. I also am in the business of teaching via our homesteading consulting business, and without curious clients, I'd have no business. Now, that being said, I do find that I could spend all day answering e-mails and comments. I've been setting up forums on my website so that people can ask questions there and I can answer a lot of questions with one answer. (I get a lot of similar or identical questions that get answered individually) Would that be a viable alternative for you as well?
Yeah, I'd imagine that would make any and all advertising pretty difficult! :stars:

I can put contact and location in my ADS, just can't link to my business when I'm posting on bb's that are related to my field (equine).

Unfortunately, it does impact my advertising ability, because I believe a link to my business at the end of posts does have a 'subliminal' effect.

DH is just trying to protect us, which I understand and agree with. My point is there are no more weirdo's on the net, then live down the road. :p We have our share of strange ones here... His point is the horse world is filled with strange people, over 1/2 of them dishonest, the other 1/2 of questionable judgment :o Says I'm the exception, of course :croc:

I'm sure different BBs have different rules but most of the ones I frequent allow the farm name and website URL in your signature with posts. Same with the various email groups I'm on ...

Some do allow advertising ... some don't ... but I can't think of any I'm on any that don't allow you to list my website.

I agree...totally! I have to LOL when people ask those kind of questions. I liked the canned answer to the emails.

Again, ditto! I've also found the best clients refer other good clients, who will also pay their invoices on time, be reasonable, accept your advice, etc. Not only do I not follow-up on referrals from bad customers, I find a way to politely dump them. :)

Back to the original post. A couple thoughts based on my marketing background and personal experience...

I wouldn't do newspaper nor radio unless you live in a large equine community. No matter how big a circulation a newspaper has, it's a wide audience. That type of audience usually works best for local retail stores.

Maybe some equine magazines for advertising? That's more targetted for your business.

I'd get online again with a website and find some equine newsgroups to join. Here's why...

DH & I bought our homestead 18 months ago. We've only been living here full time for 14 of those months. I put up a website once we got cattle, chickens and market garden started. It brings us at least 3-4 per calls per week for meat customers. And really, I haven't worked very hard to get search engine ranking, etc because we have a limited supply since we're just in our first full year.

What host did you use for your website?

We have our own servers for our websites and client websites. They're leased from HostMySite of NJ, and are located in one of their network data centers. They provide 24/7 support and network security.

We can log-in remotely to the server desktops to manage activities and server software.

I can understand your husband being nervous about giving information out on the web but there are a few steps you can take to minimize that. A cell phone, post office box and general but business related e-mail address will pull things away from your home. Photos can be of your clients in relation to the service your provide. If your service requires you to be in the picture make sure the setting is not identifiable. You won't learn much from a bunch of trees but someone could recognize lawn ornaments or a house.

Paying for advertising that looks like an article in the trade magazines that your clientel would be reading might be worth while. Mid priced law journals, religious newspapers, and what not.

Possibly some "new product" promotions in the various Equine publications - they will typically publish these for free. Also, any type of "press release" about your business or products, something that's new or improved or unique are the best topics. Again, more publications will print these for free. You also have various equine websites that you can advertise on or you could get in on one of the equine related post card decks.

The above suggestions are very equine specific targets - you could also venture out to Hobby Farm or Hobby Farm Home Magazines if that's the broader audience you want.

I handle all the advertising and marketing for an equine related company and I find the above to be some of the best options on a tight budget. Also, you can do in house or outsourced mailings to offer a discount or free product or something - targeted list to your past customers, existing customers and potential new customers in the equine industry.

Good luck, let us know what you use and what works best for you so we can all learn from each other experiences. Thanks.

I'm sure this is business dependent, but I had little success with newspaper and magazine ads. I had reasonably good success with a newsletter sent to my existing customers. If you are not sending out a newsletter, that might be a good place to start and it costs you time - but not money.

Radio was also fairly good. You can really target your market by advertising during specific radio programs. I used to advertise during the Rush Limbaugh program because I thought his listeners were a good fit for my business. I didn't get a huge number of responses, but I closed a high percentage of those that called. When I advertised on rock or urban stations I got a lot more calls, but a very low close rate.

Cable is also good in that you can target by program. I used to advertise on ESPN during Sports Center during football season and had fairly good results.

So first I recommend an email newsletter. Also check your local and regional weekly newspapers. Cheap advertising and often read cover to cover.

Then theres always the notice at the grocery store, etc/

I guess I would advertise at the horse shows, in their publications - maybe sponsor a prize level. We did one for our business and had 3 months of air time on radio, plus all the printed etc as being a sponsor - all we had to do was provide the prize ($250.00 for 4th I think it was).

Also, feed stores will sometimes allow handouts or at least have bulletin boards to post ads. Tack shops, shows, agricultural fairs, get listed on your state's web site for agricultural based businesses...

I also have found that if you put your ads in the small town local papers as someone else said the people who read these tend to frequent the businesses in them.

Laurie (vtfarma)