"We all know the old claim that you have to spend money to make money, and it’s still going to be true, but too many people take it a little too much to heart.

Any kind of marketing is going to cost money, sure, but how much money does it need to cost? There are a number of marketing techniques that can be done at an affordable price, but even these are often not used to their fullest potential for one simple reason: people aren’t willing to invest enough time.

A lot of companies expect that marketing is going to cost them plenty, so they set aside their money for their marketing campaigns and trust that if they spend enough they’ll get a return. Time is the one thing they aren’t as willing to spend because time can be a very precious commodity.

If your company is small enough and you simply don’t have the resources to make that big, expensive marketing push, spending some extra time can help make all the difference.

Take postcard mailing as a good example of this. A postcard is small, the amount of information you can put on it is limited, and the relative cost is already rather cheap. Many companies that use postcard printing put a basic announcement on theirs, maybe talking about a sale or product release, and send them out.

I can’t tell you how many postcard mailings I’ve received where the postcard just looked so uninspired. I’d guess the company traded away the time investment needed to make a great design, and spent more money sending out their postcards to a larger pool of people instead.

But if you don’t have the money you can still take the time to design a great looking postcard. Research your customer base. Figure out what they like and don’t like. Figure out the things they enjoy doing on the side, the things they’re truly interested in.

Once you really know them you’ll be in a great position to actually make something they’ll have true interest in. If you need hours or even days to make that postcard as wonderful as it can be, than take the needed time.

Give them a deal they can’t refuse. Give them something they can easily relate to. Make your postcards eye-catching and interesting to look at. People aren’t expecting something like an advertisement to be unique because so many larger companies aren’t willing to take the time to.

As I said earlier, I used postcard printing to give an example because the relative costs are already low, but taking the right amount of time will work with any kind of advertising.

All you really need is an edge over the competition. If your edge isn’t financial than make yours a matter of commitment. If you take the time to make a great ad it will show, and people will be more inclined to set aside their own time to come in and see what you’re all about.
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