Business drives our world.  Sales, in particular, is the backbone of society--even, of life!  For all that we do is in some sense an act of salesmanship: convincing the Johnsons to babysit for the evening, convincing your spouse to go out for the evening, and of course, getting the Mr. and Mrs. Jones to sign that 30 year mortgage.  All of these are acts of communication towards some end.  But the most important aspect of any of them is having someone to communicate with.

If you're a big enough brand, merely having a glowing sign and a catchy jingle that repeats in the subconscious of the general populace is enough; of course, I use the word "merely" here with a hint of irony, for such reach and scope takes millions of dollars.

But what about a small business?  Maybe you own one.  Maybe you're the sole proprietor.  Maybe you've got a small staff.  Regardless of the size, the one thing you need more than most is a body of people to show what you do.  Get in front of enough people, and your success becomes primarily a numbers game.  Thus, the name of the game is "Get Customers."

There are, or have been traditionally, a number of means of advertising.  All of them still work, too.  But they are becoming less and less effective, and they tend to remain costly.

1. Ads in the News Paper - News papers (and magazines - print media in general) is on the decline.  People simply use the internet for free, current, interactive information.
2. Ads on TV - The TV is dying too, though I doubt it will ever fully decline.  However, with the advent of digital video recorders which can fast-forward through (or even simply not record) commercials, even reaching your prospective customers in any seriously meaningful way is tough.  I'm sure, like most people, if you don't have a DVR, you probably use commercial time as a chance to get a snack or go to the bathroom, right?
3. Ads on the Radio - Digital radio, with it's commercial-free promise, is threatening radio advertisement, though much like traditional TV, I doubt it will ever go away completely.  However, much like ads on television, those commercials, if you do sit through them, usually feel like an intrusion.   I've heard effective ads, but often they're flat, unappealing, and annoying by their simple existence amid the programming the listener wants to hear.
4. Ads on Billboards - Billboards.  Some work.  Some don't.  Some detract from the scenery.  Some don't.  They will get a lot of eyes on a square of space, but if it's not memorable, then that's usually $1000s of dollars each month wasted.
5. Ads in the Mail - "Junk mail."  I get pages of it weekly.  Most people take 3 seconds or less to glance at the ad and then decide to "file" it in the trash.  Some post-cards can be eye-catching, and the overall decline in junk mail may actually present a hopeful prospect for the future of direct mail: as it becomes less ubiquitous, people may give what they receive a longer glance.  But nevertheless, for most businesses, direct mail is essentially having your money tossed out with the garbage, literally.
6. Yellow-Pages Listing - Aha!  Here is a form of advertising that is -- or at least was -- a great investment.  See, people go to the Yellow-Pages in their phone book when they're ALREADY looking for someone who can do a particular task.  The problem with the yellow pages, from a consumer stand point, is who do you trust, really?  They guy with the biggest ad?  The most ads?  And from a business standpoint, Yellow-Pages advertising can be very expensive: simply having your listing bolded with nothing else can cost hundreds of dollars per month!  Smaller pictures can cost thousands.
7. Ads on the Internet - The internet is making many of the above forms of advertising (and media) obsolete, so it only makes sense that moving your advertising budget to the internet makes sense, right?  Yes, and no.  The biggest advertising company on the internet is Google - a company so pervasive that their name is synonymous with the very act of searching online.  They got big by providing a very good, very important service.  They rank websites relevant to search terms, and put the most important results on the front page.  Then, they allow folks who simply cannot rank so well on their own to pay for first page listing (at the top, or on the sides).  While many people have learned to mentally filter out the advertisements, you only pay for the ones who do click, so it's pretty efficient at not wasting any of your advertising budget.  But, these ads can be very expensive, and whether or not they are successful depends usually on what things look like on your end.  Average "costs per click" are between $5 and $20, with some key words costing as much as $70 per click, regardless of whether or not the prospect buys anything.  That's a big flaw!

"So How Do I Get More Customers?"