Ok, how has everyone with their own business plan to market for the holiday season given the poor economic situation? I hate to scale back for fear of losing sales but at the same time, I want to at least know that I'll get back out what I put in. Anyone run across good online advertising deals?

Funny you mentioned that, I am starting to advertise again. I need to try to make it a cheap advertise also. I have been passing out flyers. Here in town are a couple of restaurants where they have a table specially for business cards. I have signed up for expos in town. It runs about $100 but hope too make more than what I spent. I am going to place my add in the local paren magazines. They have specials for beginers. I know some people in day cares where they are going to help me pass out flyers. A good way to also do it and very cheap is to buy a magnet for your vehicle that can advertise your business. What I am looking to hopefully is to try to sell to a local boutique! Well good luck because I know how it goes and with the budget thing no one wants to buy or spend.

How about the tricky trays/ chinese auctions at school?  If you have products that you are trying to market, maybe donating one to an event like this would help market.  Just a thought.

We offer ad space here fo a deal PM Rachel or myself for info

Also try blogs they offer cheap ad space!  PM me for more info

Hmm..I work from home with a Service Based company so I have always primarily advertised online for free. It seems to work very well for me, so you might cosidered something like that. Online Classifieds, networking sites, and business sites are a good place to start. A lot of my business partners like MerchantCircle.com it is basically for Merchants and you can target your specific area. Hope that helps!