Free Advertising for Small Businesses

As a small business owner and operator, I find its very important to keep advertising cost to a minimum... but at the same time you want your advertising campaigns to be very effective to generate sales volume in your business. Over the past couple of years, I have discovered that some of the “Free Local & National Advertising Sites” perform miracles while others are simply a waste of time for my business purposes.

Jones Road Farms has been in business for two years now, and I have yet to spend the first dime on Internet advertising, but at the same time, have developed an incredible response and sales through these “Free Advertising Sites” that has made my small business the success it is today ! In all honesty, I don't believe my Rabbit Farming Business would have survived the first six months, let alone two years had it not been for these types of sites to help increase my sales, because living in a rural area has it's disadvantages when it comes to generating new customers and sales leads.

Kijiji.com has to be one of my favorite free advertising sites on the Internet today. Known nationally by millions of users, Kijiji allows you to post your advertisement regionally to target only the customers in your immediate area. I joined Kijiji in 2008 and have been using the free services ever since with incredible results ! Now when I place an ad or update an existing ad, my ads are placed in surrounding larger cities like Atlanta Ga., Asheville N.C., and Greenville S.C. with my location centering these three locations. Now I sell more rabbits to people that have to drive an hour or two to reach my farm than I do to local buyers !

Oodle is another of my favorite Free Advertising Sites which caters more to my local customers. By placing an ad on Oodle.com, I am able to target which surrounding counties and cities I want my ads to appear in. This offers me a chance to get to know some other rabbits breeders in my immediate area as well. There are so many different breeds of rabbits to choose from, its hard to have every breed that people may be interested in, but through my ad network I am able to let people know of other breeders that may be able to help them out with the type rabbit they are looking for.

Craigslist is another Free Advertising Site I have just recently started using that has shown some very positive results enabling me to make close to $200 in sales within the first 48 hours after posting !!! Much like Kijiji, these ads are placed according to major cities in your area and offer you a wide variety of visitors and leads. I have many people to call from out of state because they can't find the products I offer in their local area and are willing to make very long trips in order to make multiple purchases to resell in their immediate area.

That's not to say I don't spend any money on advertising... I still have Business Cards, Road Signs and Banners, and Magnetic Door Signs I use to help spread the word and guide people to my business location, but using a discount online printing service like “VistaPrint” has made this portion of my advertising campaign very affordable as well. All the money I save on advertising through “Free Internet Advertising Sites” can be spent on “Signage” that not only lets my customers know where I am located... The professional look of my cards and signs helps to instill confidence in my customers when they arrive to make their purchases, and gives my business the “Professional Look” I want to reflect to my customers.

There are a lot of other Free Advertising Sites available on the Internet today, but Kijiji, Oodle.com and Craigslist are by far my favorite to use because I see immediate results every time I post a new ad. These advertising sites send me emails when I have an ad that is expiring to remind me I need to re-post my ads... (which is a big help when it comes to keeping up with everything). Another thing I love about advertising on free advertising sites is the option it gives prospective customers to contact me. They have the option to either email me for more information, or call to discuss what they are looking for. Either way it gives me the opportunity to possibly make a sale !

It really doesn't matter what you are trying to sell... Whether you own a small home based business that requires low cost monthly advertising, or you just have a couple of items you are trying to sell to someone that may need them... Free Internet Advertising Sites will help you make your sale, and I highly recommend this type advertising to anyone that needs to advertise but doesn't have the money to spend on large scale advertising campaigns. These sites really work !!!