Ideas for good, inexpensive advertising

Ideas for good, inexpensive advertising?

Dear Dave,

I have just opened a home furnishings discount warehouse business. We sell knock-off products at low mark-up. They’re true wholesale top-quality items. However, since it’s a low mark-up, high volume business, there is not a lot of money for advertising. I received a nice mention in the local paper last week, which has boosted my business. Now I need to supplement that attention and I’m being inundated with calls from ad sales people who saw the column. Should I indulge and buy some expensive ads?

Claudette
Nashville, Tenn.

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Dear Claudette,

I think I would avoid indulging in expensive advertisements. You found your affordable advertising last week – free advertising in the form of public relations. Your particular business has some very interesting aspects that are attention-getters. For instance, the article last week that mentioned your company did so because your pricing is very affordable. Find those aspects about your business and come up with a story. Then contact local newspapers and television stations and get them interested in the story. You might find local cable shows in your area that would like to have you on as a guest discussing your business from their point of interest. There might be an interior design column in a newspaper or magazine in one of the surrounding communities. See about doing an interview with them. Get every interior decorator in town over to your store to see what you offer.

I also recommend you read a good book called Guerilla Publicity – it is a part of the Guerilla Marketing series of books – about creating publicity that doesn’t cost much but requires a huge effort on your part.

The bottom line is find out who is using your product and find out how to attract them without spending much money.

-Dave

Delay mortgage payoff for remodel?

Dear Dave,

I think I need some marital advice. It’s amazing how finances tend to flow over into marriage and I need to know where to draw the line.

My wife and I are 28 years old with an annual household income of $170,000. We are at Baby Step 6 in your plan, which is paying off the home mortgage. We currently owe about $128,000 on the mortgage. There are no other debts and we’ve got a fully funded emergency fund of six months of expenses.

We’ve got a significant amount of remodeling that we want to do – about $38,000 worth. However, if we do it now it will push back our paying off the mortgage about nine months later than the current plan. At the current rate, we’ll have our house paid off in less than two years, but the remodeling expenses would set that back to about two and a half years. She wants to remodel now and I want to wait.

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Sean
Louisville, Ky.

Dear Sean,

It’s funny how your whole life ends up being reflected in your silly checkbook.
I think you should go ahead and do the remodeling. You’ll still be 32 or 33 years old with a paid-for home. It’s good to have maximum focus on getting out of debt, but you do have to find a balance. It’s not like you’re some guy calling me with a $30,000 income and you owe $60,000 on your cars with credit card debt coming out of your ears and you want to go do this remodel.

You two have done a phenomenal job with your finances and you’ve got an incredible income with which to work. Part of what money is for is to enjoy. Keep focused, but keep a balance. You’ve worked hard and sacrificed and now you’re up to the stage where you can have fun with some of what you earn. I have one last suggestion, so that you both understand what this remodel means financially for you. Sit down together and take a look at what your finances look like if you do this remodel now and if you wait until your mortgage is paid off – including if you pay it off earlier and invest the interest saved. Then you’re both fully informed and understand all of the consequences, no matter which choice you make.

-Dave

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