Advertising can be expensive. This in itself is an understatement if you have ever priced TV spots, or slick magazine ads. Even email blasting can come with a cost if you don't do everything yourself. In this environment of saving money, you may have an opportunity to advertise your business that won't cost much, if any at all.

If you started your business, chances are that no one knows the industry better, and others can benefit from your expertise. Why not offer to speak at local functions and at organizational meetings? No, they won't pay you, but think of it as an investment of your time. They get to learn something from an expert and you get to spread the word about your business and what you do.

An additional advantage to this idea comes from Speak Shmeak. Use these little speaking engagements to work on your public speaking skills. Especially if you have difficulty getting in front of a room full of people and speaking, getting comfortable in "no-risk" situations will help you be more comfortable when the chips are down.

Another good idea is to incorporate conference calls into your charity talks. If an organization cancels or cannot get all of its members together on the day you are supposed to speak, offer to set up a conference call for them. You get to practice your speaking skills, they get to meet, and your ingenuity will not go unnoticed. Even at normal, face-to-face engagements, you could announce a conference call at the end of your speech. The content would be about your business or products, and even if people don't attend, they'll most likely pass the information on.

To quote Seth Godin, "It only takes 10% effort to hire someone in the bottom 90% of the class." You've got a spot to fill, so you put out a classified advertising market wages. You get a bunch of resumes, do interviews and background checks, and you're done. Not very many, but other organizations put in so much more effort into their hiring process. They go out of their way to get the most qualified. They offer higher wages, and might spend even more to keep the employee and keep them happy.

Why do they go through all of that extra effort? If you only put 10% effort to hire someone and pay as little as you can get away with, the extra effort - and money - is not saved. The rest of that 90% will be spent dealing with problems both professional and personal. The money will be spent on fixing mistakes, or even hiring an extra person to help the first complete their work.

Seth's solution is to market a job opportunity like you would your products. Spending the extra money on marketing makes sense for your business. It also makes sense to spend that kind of money on attracting excellent people. After all, they are next in line for dealing with customers once your marketing works its magic. If you buy fine crystal, you don't want to cheap out on the shelf.

As you court these exceptional hires, show them how much you want them to be a part of your company. If they aren't local, set up conference calls for the interviews. Put their resume up in a web conference as you talk to them about it. Use video conferences to introduce them to their future bosses and co-workers. Incredibly, these aren't normal business hiring techniques. Their use will set you apart from your competition, and will be appreciated by your future employee as well.

They say, as humans, our biggest critic is ourselves. This seems to only apply to our bodies or personal accomplishments. It doesn't cover love, children, or our businesses. How many times have you seen a friend make a terrible business decision because they refused to look facts in the face? Have you ever done something like that?

In BusinessKnowHow, we have a business check-up checklist from Laurie Hayes. The point of such a checkup is to make sure you business is truly doing as well as you think it is. For example, could you be personally working too hard, i.e. working harder, not smarter? Or, is the new phone system really better than a conference calling plan?

It's one thing to have a checklist and to go through it, it's quite another to really make the checklist of use to your business. This means you can't just put down answers from off the top of your head – or the bottom of your heart – you have to go and see, and put down answers that are based in reality. This might hurt a bit, or make you angry, but in the long run, it's best for your company.

The only way to keep history from repeating itself is to learn from our mistakes. This has as much to do with global politics as it does with small business. The first year of any new business is rough, usually because the owner has never run a business before, or never had a business in that industry. Successful businessmen learn from their mistakes and progress, but the best mistakes to learn from are the ones that others make.

To help you learn from others mistakes, Dr. Rachna Jain, Business Consultant, has thoughtfully provided 10 common mistakes in sales and marketing that she has witnessed over her career. Some mistakes may seem small or even obvious, some you may not have known, or one or two might resemble something you are doing now. Regardless, it’s better for you to know how others have fallen to avoid the same fate.

One major mistake that may seem small is your sales team neglecting to ask for the sale. Sometimes customers need direct action and going for the "yes" is a good way to meet this need. Worrying about rejection or how the customer will perceive you is natural, but it can cripple sales. Another mistake is not keeping in touch with those that have said "yes." Existing customers are ideal sources for future business and should not be neglected. Try to get in contact at least once a month. Send out a newsletter or host a conference call. You never know when they’ll need more from you.

Two more mistakes involve hanging on to the past. Refusing to embrace new technology or clinging to outdated business models can stunt your company’s growth or even kill it. Technology can save you time and money, improve efficiency, and help you run your business better. Like technology, your business models are a reflection of the time that implemented them. If the market or industry has changed, you need to be flexible and adapt.

Whether you just started selling, or have been doing it for twenty years, you should know that you can never know everything. Obviously if you are beginning your career of sales, there is a lot to learn and you should take every opportunity you can to soak it all in. Even if you're a lifer and have more sales experience than anyone else, you still have something to learn.

While our basic human motivations have remained the same, how to access and push those primal buttons have changed. What worked in sales back in the 1950's won't really work today. No, the average customer hasn't gotten smarter; it's just that they already know those tricks. Morals and culture change and salespeople need to change with it.

Begin with admitting that no matter who you are, you can learn something about sales. To help you study, Fortune online magazine has compiled a list of eight, "must read" books for salespeople and those aspiring to sell. The first one – appropriately enough – is "Birth of a Salesman" by Walter Friedman. This book traces the history of sales in a "uniquely American" story. If you want to know where you're going, you have to know where you've been.

The next two books are ideal for those going up against big companies. Ever wondered how to get into that marbled lobby through those giant glass doors? In "Selling to Big Companies" and "The New Strategic Selling," you'll learn how to break a large corporation down into manageable chucks and navigate successfully through those big deals that take months to close.

"Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion" and "Getting to Yes: Negotiating an Agreement Without Giving In" address what's inside… both you and your customer. Sales are largely psychological and to be successful, you have to understand motivations and habits. If you know how to portray yourself and help people get what they truly want, you will be successful in sales.

In "Presenting to Win," you'll learn about what to do in that most crucial of situations: your pitch. All of your studies, practice, maneuvering, and relationships have lead up to the point where you finally get to present your product. Effective presentations are vital for your success and in modern day sales, technology plays a role. That's why this book covers subjects like effective video conferencing and PowerPoint presentations.

Finally, there are two books that remind us that sales is a personal voyage with another person and creating long-term relationships is the best way to sell. One book you're sure to have already heard of and if you haven't read "How to Win Friends and Influence People" yet, then it's definitely time you did. The other book is the personal habits of CEO Jack Mitchell called, "Hug Your Customers." To give you an idea of its contents, he writes that he sends a thank-you note to every customer that spends over $2,000 in his store. His reasoning is clear: if you appreciate your customers, they will return the favor.

Your employees are your most valuable asset. There is definitely a difference in productivity between companies that have happy employees and those that don't. There are many things you can do to make your employees happy. You can have extensive employee benefits, perks, bonuses, and reward and recognition programs. Unfortunately, in these tough economic times, spending the money to keep your employees happy may be a cost too large to handle.

Fortunately, with some creative thinking, there are things you can that don't cost a lot, but can make a big impact in your workforce. On bnet.com, Carlos Bergfeld and Princess Calabrese offer some recession-friendly employee perks that will increase your company morale without increasing costs.

The first employee perk is to give gifts that mean something. They give the example of a Colorado brewery that gives its employees a custom bicycle on yearly anniversaries. Yes, it costs a couple of hundred bucks, but the gesture is extremely well received. Probably bicycles wouldn't work with your company as it does for the Colorado Brewery. They are already in an atmosphere that is "biker friendly" and embrace that atmosphere by providing ample bike parking and on-site showers. For your employees, you would need to recognize what your culture is and what would be well-received in it. With any luck, it will cost less than a bicycle.

The next perk is more intangible. You can give your employees time. One company in California did this by giving their employees two "I don't want to get out of bed" days per year. Their employees can use these to do whatever they want and not have to worry about lying about being sick or running into their boss later on that evening.

For perks that reward hard work, another company in California – a hotel -- gives tokens to employees that get good customer ratings. The tokens can be turned in for small gift certificates ($5 to $20). The reward is small, but they can be accumulated. You can devise a similar program that rewards your employees for achievements specific to your company. You can do gift certificates, merchandise from your own store if applicable, or whatever you devise. Surprisingly, it's not so much about what they can buy with their tokens, but the collection of them and the accompanying satisfaction.

There are almost infinite ways to market yourself and your product. However, to truly be effective, some basic fundamentals of marketing will help you go farther than a flash idea or a big budget. From Forbes online, we can examine some tenets of marketing that will help you make a stronger marketing connection with your consumers.

The main challenge of any marketing campaign is distinguishing yourself from your competitors. You must be different enough to stand out, but not too much or your message will get lost. Branding is important, whether it be your logo or catchphrase. The best course to take in this situation is to keep it simple. Identify certain aspects that really describe your business or product and integrate them into your public persona. For an idea of this concept and its effectiveness, simply look at Nike's Swoosh logo. It's exceedingly simple and instantaneously recognizable.

What is it about your product that your customers will want? What will make you special to them? While you concentrate on your company to answer these questions, remember it's not about you, but about your customer. What do they like that you offer? What part of your business fits their lifestyles and needs? For best results, tailor your message to empathize with customers and make it all about them.

There are many choices to make when setting up your business or creating a product. Those choices are made by financial motivations or logistical ones, especially in the "back of house." Your customers won't be impressed that you have a slick production line, but they will care about how the final product fits into their lives. If you know your customer, you know what moves them and can cater to that. Little touches and accessories that are straight from what they care about will grab their attention and loyalty. It could be a particular kind of packaging, a color scheme, or even the medium of your advertising. Whenever possible, find a chance to insert a little nod to their interests and they will respond in kind.

Once you have schemed, planned, agonized and created your campaign, test it. Find some of your target market and show it to them. They may like some things, they may hate some things. However they feel, make sure you are open to the fact that you might have to change things to better fit their desires. If you listen to and embrace their input, you have a chance to not only get the word out, but also form a bond with your new biggest fans.

Budgets are tight right now and getting tighter, especially for small businesses. Since gasoline prices affect all parts of our economy, you can bet that if one financial part of your spreadsheet hasn't gone up, it will soon. To combat these darkening times, it can be good to take a close look at how your business runs, and what you can do to keep it in the black.

One idea that has been in the limelight recently is the four day workweek. The basic idea is to have your employees work an extra hour or two a day for four days. This is the same amount of time normally spent working a full week, but employees don't have to waste any extra gas. Also, all overhead costs on your building would take a break; no A/C, lights, water, or electricity for an entire day.

Another idea is to take a weekend to pour over your asset lists and compare them to what you actually have. Especially in companies that are capital equipment heavy, the tax breaks alone could be extremely beneficial. For example, if you have a list that is a few years old, you might find that you are paying taxes on equipment that you got rid of long ago, or have replaced with something more tax friendly. Make sure to do a complete inventory before you do your yearly, quarterly, monthly, or weekly supply runs. You might just find a treasure trove of supplies in an abandoned closet that were bought long ago and forgotten.

Use technology to its fullest extent. For example, take a close look on how much paper, storage, postage, and other physical items that you use each month. How much of that can be replaced by a digital version? Can your business work well with emailed invoices and internet payments? Would an external storage device work just as well or better than that huge filing cabinet of yours? Don't forget communications! Use teleconferences to replace face-to-face meetings. Train your people to setup a quick conference call with the three or four people involved instead of a multitude of back-and-forth long distance calls.

Like dieting, saving money can be as easy as watching what you consume. Keep your eyes peeled and stay smart about what you purchase, what you use, and how you use it.