Telemarketing is the 'art' of cold-calling a list of purchased leads or previous customers for the purpose of selling a product or service. Before calling a list of purchased leads, each name in the list needs to be checked against a database held by the Telephone Preference Service. This organisation runs a national opt out service listing personal telephone numbers no business is allowed to call. Click here to find out how to get on this list and stop those nuisance calls.  Big businesses use telemarketing a lot, such as your broandband provider or your bank.  They sometimes disguise the call as a courtesy call, asking first if you've been happy with their service, before going on to 'recommend' another one of their products. If you've kept hold of the telephone numbers of your previous customers, you can use this method too. Research Cold Calling methods and develop your calling script beforehand.  You'll only get one shot at this so it needs to be well rehearsed and probably adapted as you go on.

Similarly, Email marketing lists can be built up from previous customers or people who have opted in to receive marketing via email, usually in the form of a newsletter. Marketing emails are usually well crafted, looking more like a page from a website than a boring text only email. Unlike telemarketing, emails can be sent out weekly or monthly without annoying the customer.

Addressed, postal mailings / personalised mailings are still common and range from your bank offering you a credit card, to a letter from your garage reminding you your MOT is due.

But what about smaller businesses? If you run a small business, such as a shop, a customer list may not seem to apply to you, but if you do rely on custom from local people, you should consider the whole area you serve as your customer list. Door to door distribution ensures your message is posted through every letterbox in your target area, hitting all your potential customers in one go. It's a simple method, but it reaches everybody.

You can advertise on flyers and have them posted through every door in whatever areas you need or you can place an advert in the free local newspapers that regularly distribute in specific areas.

Local newspapers can have a bigger distribution reach for the cost compared to leaflet distribution, so may be worth considering. Have a look at the newspaper first, check how many pages of adverts you will be competing with, check the size of the advert you will get for your money and make sure the distribution area suits you.

If you advertise your business on a leaflet, you are sure of a good sized, full colour advert with plenty of space for whatever you need to say. Despite the smaller reach compared with newspaper advertising, the information on a flyer is hard to miss and more likely to be read and kept for future consideration. When your flyers are printed, you could distribute them yourself to save costs, if you have the time to do so. They will probably take longer than you realise to distribute, which is why many people rely on leaflet distribution services.

An A6 flyer, 105mm x 148mm, may provide enough space for your advertisement and will save you some money compared to a larger sized flyer. Check out our prices for A6 flyers here.

If you really want to save money, we can print and distribute your A5 advert in full colour to 2,000 homes for £80. Smaller advert sizes are available and prices start at only £20! However, this is to a specific area of Liverpool so would suit local businesses in this area or any business where the location of customers is not important. Click to read about Print and Distribution to 2000 homes around L9, Liverpool

People who provide mobile services like removals, electrical work, gardening, party entertainment, hair, nails, makeup, mini bus hire, etc should really give this a go.  Bringing popular services together increases the likelihood your advert will be kept long after it's been delivered.  We encourage businesses to include an offer on their advert to really maximise interest.