Paid advertising is just one of many types of marketing.
Try joining local or area-wide organizations like the Chamber of Commerce, or groups that organize fund raisers for worthy causes. People like to work with people whom they find to be in sync with the things they find important. Offer deals to local real estate offices, and to individual brokers, in exchange for becoming their "go to" guy in the area of carpet cleaning, tile & grout, and whatever other services you offer. Sponsor a Little league team. Of paid advertising, I have found flier inserts in weekly local newspapers to be more effective than buying ad space sporadically. People tend to hang onto fliers, but not to whole newspaper sections. Have you tried www.ocibr.com? It marketing stories and ideas just for this business.
You were asking about marketing ideas, I am also new at "marketing challenger business" I have gotten on a local tv station that markets businesses, they give you a 5 min spot to tell about your business and it's marketed with a coupon/voucher deal. I did a $178 value for $89 they got half and I received half. Then I started getting calls, from radio stations to do a "deal" which was good and now getting ready to do a deal on Groupon or LivinSocial whoever puts me first. These deals are good to get my branding out there and get customers that I needed cause my phone wasn't ringing. Do you have a Facebook business page? I have had customers put remarks on my page....and they 'like" your page, they also have advertisements...they do cost. I have found tv and radio is where I am going to put my dollars next year. I had an ad in a local newspaper, cause I brand the ECO friendly part of business, this paper was in the ECO friendly neighborhood, I received only 4 persons from this ad I will not be putting my money in local newspapers, I had ad in there 6 months every 2 weeks. No one reads newspapers anymore. I also put an ad in local magazine (ritzy) magazine didn't get anyone.
