Sitting back at home or in the office and expecting sales to roll in just because you have placed an ad in the local paper is bound to lead to disapointment. To get those customers ringing your number takes effort and planning but a lot can be done without spending a fortune.

First take a look at the product or service you are trying to sell, what are the benefits that the buyer can expect if they part with some of their hard earned cash to place an order. Everything has both benefits and features. Features of that new camera could be that it creates images with11 million pixels, which means that the benefits are that the photographs will be clearer, more detailed and can produce a larger image without losing any definition.

As a camera buyer am I interested in how many pixels it will use or how good will the photo be? It's simply a no brainer - I want a better photograpy. With that thought firmly in the seller's mind that's the message to deliver.

Once the benefit has been established the seller can get down thinking about when buyers are going to make that all important buying decision. Nearly every business has some degree of seasonality, times of feast and famine, what's important is to make sure that marketing message gets out just before the buying decision. Draw up a chart, mark out the buying months with a highlighter then plane to market just before those key months.

First on the list has got to be a website, even if you only have your business card on line you simply have to have a website. As this can now be done for free using sites such as Moonfruit by clicking this link.

Most people consider leaflet drops a waste of time, money and effort but the truth is that with a well designed flyer these can be very cost effective. Judging by the amount of rubbish that comes through my front door it's obvious that very little thought has been given to the marketing message. They are simply tombstone advertising, here lies a soon to close down business at 47 Acacia Avenue, Where's the benefits of dealing with this business? What can they do for you? How can you reach them? Where's the credibility? Why should we trust them? Good colourful leaflet delivering a powefull selling message can bring in the customers, don't even doubt it!

Advertisments in local and regional papers should be in your marketing armoury but always do the sums. How much do you have to sell to make enough PROFIT just to pay for the advert? Sometimes it's simply not possible. Don't place the advert unless there is a reasonable chance of profits in return. Maybe place a simple advert that concentrates on your web address to drive customers to your site where you can deliver a much stronger message at much less cost.

Press Releases should always be at the forefront of your mind, Has your business just won a major customer? Have you won an award for your services? Have you sponsored the egg and spoon race at your children's school? All these could be considered newsworthy and deserving of a place in your local paper. Write up the story and send it in. Look for the reporter who writes on this sort of topic, the garden shop might send it to the gardening correspondent, the sports track send it obviosly to the sports reporter. You won't get all of your press releases published but remember what your grandmother always told you, "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again." Eventually you will become consider the 'local expert' and it's surprising how often you will be followed up the your local paper or radio station for a comment on local issues.

Don't forget there is lots of free help out there from your local Enterprise Trust or Business Link