Advertising Budget.........What Advertising Budget?

Perhaps one of the most difficult things to make a decision about when starting a business is about how much to spend on advertising.  We all know how important it is to let people know the business exists - we cannot make any sales if people don't even know we exist right?

But how do we advertise? There are so many ways these days, including a lot of free options.  Social Media does provide a great opportunity for advertising and promoting for free - it is also one of the most powerful.  Because it is free however you have to remember there is a lot of competition for customers, and some people may just get fed up with being 'sold at' all the time.  How best to promote a business page on social media as well is far from understood by most of us.

As i have already made a start on getting-word-out via social media it is tempting to just focus on these methods.  It is even more tempting to do nothing that actually costs money when the social media methods are free (unless you decide to pay for an advertising package).  Just one-week-on however i found myself making make-shift posters and cards to hand out while i was at the car boot sale.

I do not have a lot of money to spend on advertising and promotional materials, but i know i do need some.  I have no option but to start off cheaply which many people will say is a mistake.  When i have no option however is it not better to do cheap rather than none? We will see!

So, my cheap options are to get some basic business cards printed - I personally find Vistaprint a useful resource for budget range promotional materials - they offer many discounts and options to gradually upgrade to higher quality items.  A lot of people don't like using a big company like this who, I have to say, appear to add costs at the end sometimes, but for me its a quick, easy and cheap way to make a start on promotion.

I have ordered 500 basic business cards with double sided printing for £15 inc postage.  I have also bought some multicoloured paper for printing off some leaflets to distribute locally. This paper cost me £3, and no doubt i will be spending some more money on ink for the printer......

So far then my advertising budget is £18/£0 - a common situation for many of us i'm guessing.

How about you? have you got no advertising budget? have you tried starting cheap? What would you advise me to do?