Idea #1

OFFER A CONTEST:  If you have a website you’re promoting get a T-shirt made with your website’s logo and URL on it.  Offer the T-shirt as a prize to the winner.  If the winner likes it they will wear it often and it becomes a walking billboard for your site.  If you sell a product, offer the product as the prize.  A contest  can be done on many levels:

a.  CONTEST ON A RADIO STATION:  As part of your Radio ad promotion offer your product or a T-shirt with your logo and URL as the prize.  Have callers call in to the radio station to answer questions.  The first person to answer the questions correctly is the winner.

b.  CONTEST ON A STREET CORNER:  Put a number on the back of your business card and hand them out to people.  Then have someone randomly pick a number.  If anyone in the crowd has that number, they become the winner.

C.  CONTEST AT A VENUE:  Do a contest at a conference, expo, etc.  Do it every hour or two hours. 

Idea #2

POST STICKERS:  You can place stickers with your logo and other information about your business on areas around town in places such as, paper stands, light poles, garbage cans, parking meters, etc.  NOTE:  many cities and municipalities have laws against such things, therefore in order to utilize this method it is best to check with the local authorities.  Many city and local governments have an “Office of Special Events” that handle these kinds of requests.  You can also post stickers at mailboxes in apartment buildings.  You may want to get permission from the facility manager before doing this. 

Get stickers made.

Idea #3

RELEASE A FREE BOOK:  Write a book about the subject area of your business and offer it for free.  Put information in the book that would lead readers back to your website or your business.  Publishing a book is not expensive.  You can self publish.  You can write the book and have it printed at print shops that can do it for an inexpensive price.  Stay away from the big publishers and think of self publishers that do not require up front payment. 

 See Book Publishers.

Idea #4

BOOKMARKS:  Create bookmarks with your business logo and website URL and give them away for free. 

See sources where you can get Bookmarks made.

Idea #5

IN THE SAND:  Go to the beach and write your website’s address, business name or logo in the sand (preferably out of the way of the rising tide).  Make it large enough to be seen by passing airplanes.  Pick a beach that gets a lot of traffic.  Get there early and pick a good spot.

Idea #6

OF THE BODY:  People who wear Tattoos tend to get a lot of attention.  One way to bring attention to your business is to pay them to wear tattoos of your business logo, business name or website URL on their bodies.  If they have concerns about the permanency of tattoos you can offer them to wear temporary tattoos instead. 

See a list of places where you can get temporary custom tattoos.

Idea #7

BUMPER STICKERS:  Create and give out bumper stickers to anyone who will put it on their vehicle.  Millions of eyeballs will see your advertisement.  Think about how much time you spend in rush hour traffic during the week.  Think of how much time you spend looking at the bumper of the vehicle in front of you.  Just imagine if you had 1,000 vehicles with your sticker on their bumpers traversing rush hour traffic every day across the country.  Now multiply your experience by the millions of eyeballs that will view your ad in a given year. 

See a list of vendors where you can get your Bumper Stickers made.

Idea #8

EMAIL SIGNATURE:  Add your website’s URL or business logo to the signature of each email account you use. If appropriate add a funny comment or quote to draw people’s attention.  Other eyeballs could get to look at your advertising when your email is forwarded by the recipient to another person.  Partake in forums and other venues where you communicate to lots of people via email.  This will give you ad greater exposure.

Idea #9

THE BROWSER TRICK: Go to your local library, internet cafe or computer room and set your website (URL) as the default browser homepage on all the computers you can easily access.   Better yet get your friends to help you since you may draw attention to your self if you try to bounce between computers at an Internet Café.

Idea #10

LOCAL MEDIA (THE STUNT):  Either pull a stunt, run a promotion or even have one of those warm success stories “Local man makes it big on the net.  You could have people picket your storefront with signs that read “This business is too nice” or “Company "X" is too good at their job.

Idea #11

SPECIAL VENUES/EVENTS:  Special Events offer a unique opportunity for lots of eyeballs to be looking at your ad.  Think of an ad on the back of a t-shirt of someone walking through crowds of tens of thousands of people.  Think of all the people behind you looking right at your back.  Now imagine the t-shirt with your ad on the backs of a few people walking through the crowds.  Think of special events such as Beer Fest, Music Fest, Jazz Fest, Gospel Fest, Art Fest, Food Fest, etc.  Give the t-shirt away at the event for free, on the condition that they put it on right then and there. 

See outdoor events by State.

Idea #12

LET’S GO TO THE MALL:  The Mall also offers us another opportunity to get lots of eyeballs looking at the ad on the back of a t-shirt.  Take advantage of it.  Give out some free t-shirts on the condition that they wear it right then and there. 

See a list of Malls by State.

Idea #13

AROUND TOWN:  In high traffic areas around town, especially during the summer when the tourists are out presents another opportunity to get lots of eyeballs looking at the ad on the back of a t-shirt.  Take advantage of this too.  Give out some free t-shirts on the condition that they wear it right then and there.

Idea #14

DONATIONS: Donate your product or service to venues that they can offer as prizes or rewards.  Take for example, Employee-of-the-Month.  Offer an organization the opportunity to give the Employee-of-the-Month winner your service or product for free as part of their winning package.  That will be much more appreciated than just a plaque on the wall.  Think of the publicity your product would get when shared with other employees  and family members and friends.   Other venues you can donate to include TV Talk Show give away programs, morning television contests, Radio show contests, etc. 

TV Station Listing by State

Idea #15

CHARITY:  Donate some of the profits you generate every month to charity. Advertise to the public that this is what you’re doing.  Notify the media to put the word out.  The media loves to support a good cause.  Hence, free publicity.  People feel like they’re doing something good by helping out the charity by purchasing from you.

TV Station Listing by State. 

See a list of Charitable organizations.

Idea #16

ROOF TOP:  How about getting a paint bucket to the roof of someone’s house and painting URL on the roof? After some time it will be visible via Google Earth

Idea #17

POST IN A BLOG:  Word spread quickly in blogs.  Encourage your friends, family, and even clients to talk about your product or service in blogs.  There is a blog for every subject matter on the web.  Millions of people utilize blogs to find information and  get advice from other first hand users of a product or service.  There is a high trust level among bloggers.  You can also create your own blog. 

See a list of Blog Directories.

Idea #18

GROCERY BAGS:  Give out free grocery bags with your business information on it (logo, name, Website URL, etc.).

Idea #19

IMAGE SITES (PICS):  Write your business name or website URL in the sand and take a picture of it and post it on different photo sites.   Put it out there as free pics. 

See a list of sites where you can upload your pics.

Idea #20

MONEY STAMPING:  Stamp a funny phrase along with your website address on it. Give it out to the public.  You can also attach your business card to the money.  You can do this on one-dollar bills.  Think of the attention that a couple hundreds dollars can bring your business when it is passed around endlessly from person to person who will notice it and check out your website.

Idea #21

TRADING SPACES:  Make an offer with other businesses to promote their business with free ad space on your website or allow them to leave flyers, brochures or other advertising items at your business in return for you receiving the same from them.  No money required. Both sides benefit.

Idea #22

GOING TO THE MOVIES:  when you’re heading into the movie theater, buy a ticket  for the persons way behind you and tell the cashier to give them your business card and the ticket. You’re not guaranteed that the person will become a client but they will talk about it for a while and show their friends and family the business card.

Idea #23

THE LIBRARY:     Place business cards or bookmarks in books at the library.  Place them in books that gets checked out often.  Sometimes Librarians check the books to see if anything fall out of them. So you may want to think of ways to make sure it stay in the book and be seen by the user when it gets checked out.

Idea #24

THE BOOK STORE:  People buy lots of books from the bookstore.  This is another opportunity for you to place your business card or bookmark in a book that could be bought by someone.  You can also have someone conspicuously stand outside a bookstore for a few minutes at a time and hand out some free bookmarks with your business information on it.  Be sneaky like the Guerrilla and don’t get caught.  The bookstore may not take kindly to you cutting in on their profits by giving away freebees.

Idea #25

DOCTOR’S OFFICE MAGAZINES:  Every time you visit the Doctor’s office why not place your business cards in the magazines lying on the table while you wait.  Also, think of other things you place there such as bookmarks with your business information, discount coupons, etc.

Idea #26

HAIR SALONS:  Every time you visit the Hair Salon, Barber Shop, or Beauty Shop why not place your business cards in the magazines lying on the table while you wait.  Also, think of other things you place there such as bookmarks with your business information, discount coupons, etc.

Idea #27

CAR REPAIR SHOP:  Every time you visit the Car Repair Shop why not place your business cards in the magazines lying on the table while you wait.  Also, think of other things you place there such as bookmarks with your business information, discount coupons, etc.

Idea #28

FREE MAGAZINES:  Subscribe to those services that offer you a whole bunch of magazines for $1.00 a piece.  Put your business card, bookmark, brochure, etc. inside of them and drop them off at places such as Doctor’s offices, Beauty Shop, Barber Shops, Repair Shops, Car Washes, etc.  Give it to them for free.  On the next visit just take the magazines and leave them there.  You don’t even have to tell them you’re leaving it.  Do it in moderation.  Don’t drop a whole bunch off in one place.

Idea #29

DEMONSTRATIONS:  If a store is selling your product team up with them to offer a demonstration for free on how your product works.   This will benefit you as well as the store.  The store will be able to generate more sales, and more sales for them means more sales for you.   Throw in a barbeque if you have to, to sweeten the deal. Be sure to advertise it in advance.

Idea #30

SPONSOR EVENTS/ACTIVITIES:

a.  BLOOD DRIVE:  Team up with the Red Cross, and host a blood drive.  Contact newspapers, tv news, radio, etc. and invite them to come and report on it.  Do it during the National Blood Drive month, or do it for a specific person that is in need.  TV and newspapers love those kinds of story.  Don’t forget to have your banners displayed at the registration table so that the whole world know who is sponsoring the event.  Everyone loves to help their country, city, state, etc. and giving blood is the easiest way for some people to do that.

b.  THE HOMELESS:   You can sponsor a homeless person to stand on the street and hold up your sign or wear a t-shirt with your business information in plain sight for all to see. 

c.  TRAINING EVENT:  Sponsor a training event for another business and promote your business by giving out freebees as part of the course handout or graduation package.  For example, is offering training in Microsoft Word.  Get with them and offer them the opportunity to attract more participants by utilizing free donation of your products or services to attract more people to the class.  They will advertise your product or service to the world as an incentive to attend the class and you will benefit from the publicity.  This is a win-win situation for you and for them at little or no cost to you.

Idea #31

THE GUERRILLA:  When all else fail bring out the Guerrilla.  Nothing wrong with putting someone in a Guerrilla suit and have them stand on the street and hand out freebees, coupons, business card, etc.  A hint:  don’t just give out your business card.  Give them something they can’t refuse along with it.

Idea #32

BUSINESS AWARDS:  Compete for and win business awards.  Your company name gets exposure, especially if you win.  Your company name could get mention in papers, magazines, blogs, websites of the organization promoting the awards, or industry websites that make it a feature article, etc.  You might even get TV exposure as a result.  You also have the added bonus of earning some credibility by bragging about it on your website. 

 See a list of Business Awards you can compete for. 

Idea #33

YOUR OWN SHOW:  Use a Projector and a Laptop Computer to project an image on the side of a building that faces a high traffic (pedestrian or mobile) area.  Get permission from someone to utilize the side of their building.  If necessary pay them off with freebees or rent the space for small fee.  Have your company logo/website/information shown on it every night.  This is guaranteed to get attention.

Idea #34

ONE HAND HELPS THE OTHER:  If you own two businesses utilize them to market the other.  If you want to bring customers to the website for one business and ships a product out to customers on your other business.  Why not put a brochure or business card with the website of the other business in the package. 

Idea #35

WINDOW DECAL:  Print a decal with your business name and URL and past it on your car. Get your friends and family members to place it on their cars. You can place it on the inside or outside of the car.  Get others to place it on their cars by giving them your product or service free of charge.  Placing it on the inside gives it protection from the elements and make it last longer.  Place it where it will get the most views; inside the rear windshield. 

See a list of vendors where you can get Window Decals made.

Idea #36

POSTINGS:  Post flyers and posters around town in places where it is likely to be seen by the target demographic.  

See a list of Guerilla marketing companies that can do this for you.

Idea #37

IN THE NEWSPAPERS:  Post an ad in the newspapers.  However, this will be different from your typical ad.  On the ad you can give a Promotion Code or a Coupon number and state that the first 100 people that utilize this number to sign up for an account or buy a product will get it for free.  Guess how many people will be trying to be the first one hundred. 

See a listing of newspapers by State.

Idea #38

ON THE HOME PAGE:  You can post a Promotion code or Coupon number on your homepage once a month that gives people a free product or service (a limited number of course).  Word will get out and attract visitors to your website.