Here are ten marketing tips that won't cost you a lot of money but are very effective for marketing small businesses.

1. Don't do your marketing like a big business. The reason you must approach small business marketing differently, is that big businesses do marketing for very different reasons. Big businesses want to create name recognition and pump up future sales. Of course, small businesses don't have the budget for this task. Your advertising should be designed to create sales now. Include an offer in your advertising to do this.

2. If you're selling a product, offer a less expensive version. Sometimes with small businesses, people are not willing to pay your original price. Or, they'd rather pay a lower price than get the best quality.

3. This means you should also offer a premium version. As not everyone is looking for the least expensive price, there are some willing to pay more to get good quality. By offering a product or service that offers more than just the basics you can increase your total revenue.

4. Because you are small business, you may have to try marketing in unconventional ways. Maybe your competitors are missing something and you can fill in the gap. Sometimes circumstance forces you to find interesting ways to beat the competition and increase sales. One example, that has been done in the past, is to put a small ad on a postcard and mail it to your market. This can lead to a lot of people visiting your website and perhaps a lot of sales for a little bit of money.

5. As a small business it's a good idea to keep your ads smaller. If you have smaller ads you can run much more for the same price. And oftentimes, smaller ads actually get you more attention than the longer ones.

6. Join up with other small businesses. If you contact non competing small businesses that work within your market, this can be a good way to reach more people that may turn into paying customers. You can contact the businesses by offering to advertise their products or services to your customers if they do the same for you. This is a low cost way to produce many sales.

7. Use your current customers to produce more sales. It's easier to get sales from the people that already know and trust your company. Create special deals for existing customers and give them up to date information before anyone else on upcoming services you may be adding.

8. Use your current customers to create more buzz for your business. If you create an incentive for them to tell their partners and friends or family about the products you're selling, this serves as a powerful endorsement. Endorsements are good for business. Plus, they are free!
9. If you have a small business, think local. The community in which you're situated may be a great source of revenue for your company.

10. Come up with promotions that no one has seen before. If you want to beat out the bigger competition, you have to have an edge and offer something different than they do. Make this clear to potential customers so that they will have a reason to choose you over the competition.