Being an entrepreneur is more challenging than ever. It’s tough to compete as the little guy. Large corporations have access to marketing experts and big budgets while internet companies have lots of tricks to channel online traffic to their websites. But don’t let that discourage you. In addition to the tried and true methods of promotion and advertising, there is a whole myriad ofare many simple yet creative ways to attract attention to your little company. Among these methods include clever usage of business cards and postcards.

photo credit: Marcin Wichary

Don’t misjudge the value of those tiny, rectangular pieces of paper that contain your name, company name and important contact information. While they ought not to be guarded and locked away, they shouldn’t be scattered all over town without forethought either. Some of the more conventional methods of distributing these little advertising gems are during meetings and chance encounters. They can also be given when simply striking up a conversation with anyone while out and about. One could even innocently ask a stranger what they think of the design or logo and insist they take one for themselves.

An alternate avenue of advertising a company is to leave fliers advertising special promotional offers on products or services at other display your handouts on their counter near the cash register. When possible, it would be a nice gesture to put some of their promotional materials in your store as well, provided they are not in direct competition with your company.

Thank past customers for their patronage and send notes with “valued customer only” offers to encourage repeat sales. Or, offer special discounts if customers bring in or refer a friend to you. In addition to contacting current customers, send a mass mailing to the local residents who would most likely be interested in your products and services. The object is to notify as many potential customers as possible to annual or seasonal sales events.

Fliers and notes are airy standard in the advertising game. Perhaps your company could get that extra edge by utilizing objects that have an alternate use. Anything that can be printed upon is a viable option. A personal trainer could use a stretchy exercise band to promote her services while a chimney sweep might opt to print his information on a book of matches. The options are only limited by your imagination, and perhaps a little by your budget as well.

It’s practically impossible to ignore the most widely used form of advertising—the internet. It doesn’t matter whether or not your company is web based or you have an actual store front. Instead of spending your hard earned money on a webpage designer, you could learn fairly easily how to get something up and running very quickly. Once your company can be accessed on the internet, you’ve just opened yourself up to countless potential new customers.

photo credit: pacomexico

In the current economy, companies must be creative and persistent in attracting new customers and maintaining the ones they already have. Using both traditional advertising methods and the latest technology is the only way to succeed.

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Quite a few of us enjoy the real time advantages of Twitter and the immediate contact and feedback it gives us. The benefits with technology like Twitter continue to be seen in new ways everyday. For example, while tweeting is entertaining and connects you with the current news and information from across the world, retweeting has many other profitable advantages for individuals and larger organizations with websites or blogs.

Retweeting is simply forwarding a tweet from another user’s Twitter account. For example, if you just read some celebrity gossip on someone’s Twitter account and want to pass it along to the followers on your Twitter account, you use a retweet button to instantly send the posting to your followers.

To make the most of your website or blog, add a retweet button to incorporate them into Twitter. The retweet button takes care of all the work involved. When clicked on, it will handle all the coding and formatting for the retweet. More importantly, a retweet button will allow readers to retweet your content on Twitter with just the click of a button.

The benefits of a retweet button are extensive. First, a retweet button allows you to easily share the link of an article or blog post. A retweet button also keeps count of how many tweets a story currently has, a great advertising booster. Most of the newer blog publishers use retweet buttons to make the functionality of their blog posts more dynamic.

The primary advantage of a retweet button is the additional traffic it directs to your online presence. All retweets have a back link to your website or blog, which continuously supply a peerless promotional and advertising advantage. It means that everyone who reads the retweet has a means of visiting your online site. It’s an amazing way to improve name recognition for a product or organisation, to acquire an increasing number of hits to your blog, to improve your website or blog page ranking with the search engines, or to maximise your Twitter followers.

A back link coming from a retweet has several advantages over one from other sources, such as a blog post or content article. With a retweet back link, the process is real time, which is a benefit for those tracking response time. Think of it as an electronic replacement for word of mouth, with the major difference being the ability to connect with people around the world.

A retweet button is the perfect way to build upon your individual or company brand and to improve loyalty and trust among your Twitter followers. A retweet button can also assist you with building your credibility in a specific area, increasing your website traffic or increasing the number of your Twitter followers even more.

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So if you’re not retweeting or taking advantage of a retweet button, it’s time to take your Twitter presence to the next level.

Adam Toren, Co-Founder of Young Entrepreneur, specializes in developing the profitability of struggling businesses with a specialised and ‘bottom line’ approach. Adam, along with his brother, have created, purchased and sold a variety of companies over the years. At the moment, they own and manage a highly successful publishing company and several dedicated online enterprises.

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