Joint Advertisement

This topic might be of interest to ultra small business owners. There are many shops in our neighborhood. Some of the shops might be very common like a grocery store, saloon, ice cream shop, dairy, variety shop, etc. But there are also some shops which offer printing services, they offer flex service, repairing computers and offering old & new computers, and other such shops which will offer uncommon / special services. These services are not in demand much and are required by fewer clients. This is the reason why when people require such services, they do not know the place to go. You are not so known and the users of your services are also limited. This limits the reference through which many people come. This situation might be tackled with some advertisement. 

Advertisement for shops like this can be ultra local. These cannot appear in newspaper because it is given in many places. You can try giving advertise in classifieds of the most read newspaper. It may not cost you more than 700-1500 bucks depending on the newspaper and its circulation. Here, the advertise is only 6-7 lines so you have to solo. This is more suitable for a shop where people from other areas can also come. Another option is to give pamphlets / leaflets in your area. Depending on how big your area is, you will have to print the quantity. This ensures that your target which is nearby market gets the leaflet. If you want to give a discount, you can ask people to bring the leaflet to get the discount. Discount ensures that people who want the service / product anyways will definitely come to you because you are offering a discount. 

Another way in which you can advertise is collaboration. Meet your fellow shopkeepers. Ask them if they are interested to distribute leaflets. If they are ready, you can divide the leaflet area and print both business information on one paper. The cost will be for one but the result will be for both. Similarly, if you can have 3-4 businesses, it would be great because this way you can get a big deal with your printing guy. You can have both side print and print in large quantities. Large enough for distributing each month or at least once in a couple of months. This will ensure people remember your name. More the visibility, better are the chances that people come to you.