Thinking big, act (and spend) small

Are you a small business trying to build a significant presence for yourself quickly, and for a low cost? In just part of an afternoon, you can:

Start a blog on Blogger.com, and teach people things you know. Home improvement tips, beauty advice, fashion trends, whatever you do. Blogger is free.

Register a “vanity URL” via GoDaddy to promote your blog. Just have the new vanity URL redirect to your blog, and that’s your Web site! Your URL will cost just $7 bucks each year.

Start asking your customers for their email address, and start a newsletter via Constant Contact. It’s free for 60 days, or free forever if your email database is less than 50 names. But if your database is between 51 and 500 names, it’s still just $15 bucks a month. Your newsletter features teasers to content on your blog, which drives traffic back to your Web site. Professionally-designed templates are waiting and ready, all included in the price.

Promote your Web site and newsletter by printing business cards with VistaPrint.com. Your first 250 business cards are free, and to add a newsletter sign-up tout on the back (with URL) it’s just $6 bucks. You’ll pay for shipping, but that’s just another $5 bucks if you do the economy ship rate.

So, you now have a custom Web site, custom URL, an email newsletter, and business cards to promote all of the above.

And your first month fees (including the annual costs) is $18 bucks. Each month moving forward, it’s just $15 bucks a month.

Perfect for small businesses, right? Sure. But if you’re a big company, or big agency, why not try these tools for your next marketing campaign? Your next product launch? Or your next guerilla effort? I’m guessing it’ll be far cheaper than other options. And it’ll take less than an afternoon to get up and rolling.