When starting your own business, you are probably just like me. Excited and scared all at the same time. You want your business to be successful. But your scared you might make a mistake and mess up. You want consumers to know about your business but your really not sure what steps to take to bring your company to the attention of the customer. Trust me, Everyone who has started their own business, whether a storefront or a Home based business, has gone through this anxiety.

Do you remember in High school when you had to take those aptitude tests to see what kind of career you would do well in? I remember my test results told me that I would make a great store owner. My husbands also told him that he would do well as an entrepreneur. So as our life together started to grow we decided to open our own Comic book Shop. We where taking charge of our lives and becoming our own boss. I twas hard work. The day to day grind of finding the funds to start and the search for the perfect spot for our store took many months to achieve. But the hardest job we had was after the Store opened. We realized that we had to promote our business or we wouldn't survive. How were we going to get customers to come to our store? We checked into advertisements in the telephone directory and radio spots to Promote our business. But these programs were pricey and money was tight. We were facing what every business big or small faces. How do we get customers to come to our store without breaking our limited pocketbook? We had to get creative. We made large signs to put out on the streets. We made posters and flyer's and passed them out to different areas of the city. We did research and found out where our target market consumers hung out. Then we went there and hung out too.

When starting your own business you need to consider what you need to do to promote yourself. Just like we did, you need to start thinking of ways to promote your business. And unless you are already rich, you want to find ways to save money while promoting. Here are a few pointers that may help you to promote your business without breaking the bank.

1. Do your research. Find out were your target market is. Your target market are the people that will be most interested in what you are selling. Go to websites that deal with the same product that you have. Go to Blogs and read about your business. hang out in newsgroups and Forums and talk to people. Find out where your target market is and then hang out with them. And don't forget to go to those conference calls and talk. People will start to recognize you.

2. Write something. Become an expert in your field. Write as many Ezine articles that you can about your business. The more you get your name out there the more people will recognize who you are and be interested in what you are doing. Write an ebook about your product. Or start a Blog. Be creative.

3. Through your new contacts start building a list of leads. Find out were people are getting leads for their websites. Find a lead Generation company that can help you find quality leads. There are great companies out there that can help you build your own leads without spending an arm and a leg. In fact many companies have start up programs that are free, but are packed full of information on how to get your name out there.

The key to a successful Business online or offline is getting to know your target market and having them get to know you. Call them. Treat them as friends. And remember to do your research. Hang out with the right people and your business will grow. But don't forget to treat others with respect. Word of Mouth is the best way to get others to come to your business. Treat them with respect and they will bring their friends along and treat you with more business. Happy growing!