Every small business has the same basic problem - a great service or product and not enough dollars to market it properly.

Advertising is expensive and can be hit or miss. How do you make your target audience pay attention to your message? What sort of budget and time should you allocate?

Before you start down that road however, go back to basics and make money now. Here's how:

Re-connect with old clients. People drop off for a variety of reasons - often because you've simply not kept up the relationship. Go back through your old contact list. Email then, then phone them offering a special offer.

If you've a local business, connect with local residents and business with something quirky that will hang around. Handbands are perfect for this - have your company name in a variety of colours along with your web address and ph number.

Do you have a product that lends itself to a gift with purchase strategy? Everyone loves a freebie and if you're calling, letterbox dropping or emailing old clients for example, having something exciting like a free gift to offer makes people read more.

Your website is up there and needs to be used! Make use of Google Analytics and Google Places. They're free and you're just letting potential contact go down the road. It's not hard to learn to use the tools. This is a pretty good and quick lesson.