No cash for advertising? No worries. These promotions are more about creativity than spending money. Another bonus is they’re easy to do and manage. All it takes is for you to get started. Try one. Or all ten.

The Hook: Create a clever email that has a tie-in with your company products. Add in useful information that is likely to appeal to a broad audience. For example, “Healthy and Quick Dinners” or “10 Ways to Winterize Your Car”. Then send the message to your family, friends, or anyone that you communicate with on a routine basis. At the bottom of the message include a P.S. that reads, “Pass this on to help your friends eat healthy!” or “Pass this on and help your friends drive safely”. The Benefit: The email will spread awareness about your company and your products.

The Hook: Promote something you normally don’t. If you have a service that tends to be seasonal give it a new angle and special price in the “off season”. For example a tax accountant with a weak client flow during summer months can offer spring classes on ways small business owners can cut taxes. The Benefit: You have a steady flow of customers no matter what the season.

The Hook: Visit other small business owners in your area. Arrive with product samples and a folder containing your marketing materials. Bring chocolate to enlist extra help from the receptionist. Get the owner’s business card and follow up in a few days to see if they can use your products or refer you to others who can. If the answer is no for right then, ask if you can include them in your newsletter distribution. Chances are they won’t say no to the same business neighbor twice in one day. The Benefit: You gain a business ally.

The Hook: Promote your newsletter with a free pizza drawing. Place a large fish bowl in a coffee shop or bar. Paste a Win Free Pizza sign on the bowl. Let participants know the drawing date and that leaving their business card automatically signs them up to receive your free newsletter. You don’t have to take the winners out for pizza personally, but a gift certificate from a pizza parlor fulfills your part of the bargain. The Benefit: Increased newsletter subscribers who will have the opportunity to receive your promotional messages.

The Hook: Sticker invoices, direct mailers, etc with heart or smiley faces.Include the message “We love customer referrals! Sign up for our referral reward program at www.thenameofyourwebsite.com. The Benefit: You promote your website as well as your customer referral program.

The Hook: Give your customers store credit with a gift card you sell in dollar amounts. Gift cards influence customers to splurge on expensive items and purchase more than they usually intend. Explore these gift card programs (ask about a trial rate) www.paymentech.com, www.ecardsystems.com, and www.giftcentral.com. The Benefit: Shoppers tend to splurge because they perceive gift cards as free money.

The Hook: Maximize shameless self-promotion.If you’ve been appointed to a club officer or board position, or have received a nomination, write a press release that establishes a tie-in with your company. Another more shameless approach is to nominate yourself for an award. Look for opportunities on the Internet that accept self-nominations. If you win, you certainly have cause to write and distribute another press release. The Benefit: Great PR!

The Hook: When attending an overnight trade show or conference, create wellness bags to give to booth attendants and presenters.Sample packets of aspirin, earplugs, bath salts, and chocolates are comforting items to weary travelers. The Benefit: People will show their gratitude in sales.

The Hook: Start a recycling program.Advertise this service in all your promotional materials. What can you recycle? Customer returns, books, outdated or discontinued inventory. Have a special bin inside your place of business. Give the items away or sell them at a discount price. The Benefit: You get people in your door. Once there, they’ll explore your offerings and usually leave with something.

The Hook: Have a printer create a high-impact poster using a screen shot of your webpage. Place your posters in several places throughout your neighborhood (e.g. cafés, restaurants, car washes, dry cleaners, grocery stores, gyms). The Benefit: Repeated exposure strengthens consumer interest.

Sonya Carmichael Jones is an independent copywriter, marketing strategist, and success coach for the small and home-based business community. She’s launched marketing campaigns, instructed marketing classes, and written over 500 articles for magazines and newspapers. She’s also the author of “The Art of Smart Marketing, what small business owners must know to get customers and sell products. For more free marketing tips, information on how to purchase her book, or to sign up for a marketing class, go to http://www.marketingbuddha.com.