Marketing is tough for everyone, especially small businesses that operate on a shoestring budget. It is important for every company to utilize free and low-cost venues to advertise and/or promote their goods and services. There are quite a few budget friendly options to help get the word out.

We are very fortunate, in the Venango Area, to have a local news source that publishes an Annual Business Review and Forecast edition at the beginning of each year. Many businesses miss out on this opportunity because they find writing such a daunting task.

At the end of each year, The Derrick and The News-Herald sends out a questionnaire to business owners. The purpose of the questionnaire is two-fold. It may be used as a guide to the business preparing the article for the special edition, or it may be filled out and submitted to the newspaper staff, who will write the article.

If this task is still too much to add to the daily challenge of getting things done, there are a few local marketers who are happy to help. Professional promoters will collect your information, write the article, take photo(s), and submit them to the newspaper, typically for a very reasonable fee.

Jeanne Best of Ask Me shares: “It is a real missed opportunity if businesses do not submit an article for the Business Review and Forecast. In addition to the exposure it offers, it can be a good exercise in exploring the narrative a business is telling about themselves and in learning how to refine and improve that story. I am happy to talk with any business that may not have the resources of time or experience to write their article.”

You can contact Jeanne at askmebyjeanne@gmail.com.