Cheapest and effective form of advertising ?

seems its online wouldnt it be best to advertise online 1st like on here
or other forums also ebay just selling a few items with a link to his store will attract a few customers i would imagine

If its online I dont think you necesarraly would need to advertise locally, probably best advertising in a fitness magazine which goes out nationwide or even globally. And where is my mail, it seems the postman cannot find his way out of Swansea

From my experience, you have to advertise to the target audience so newspapers and community mags a no no but the fliers could come in handy if you could distribute them round gyms etc. As it is an online company, the name has to be placed on related sites. Look at the site sponsors on MT and see how much custom they make, e.g. I wouldn't have bought off myprotein or all-in1 if I hadn't spotted them on MT.

I know you say he hasn't got much money but if he could think of somekind of introductory deal it would go down well with customers and a % of them will tell their friends about it thus increasing traffic to his site. The best form of advertising is word of mouth.

Best of luck with it.

ORIGINAL: frankopaul

Not for me before you all think it lol

Its for my mate who has just started his own online supplement shop

He hasn't got much money and he has had the following options presented to him

1. local community magazine (not mine lol) 45,000 copies 1/2 page a5 for £165 per month
2. local newspaper 150,000 copies 1/2 page a5 for £400 per 1 night
3. flyers done 5000 copies for £138
4. you suggest something lol

whats your opinions ?

Franko

If it is for supplements then that is a very specific group of people.

Local Newspaper - 150k copies - How many readers are into BBing? It will be a tiny percentage.
Same with local community magazine.
Flyers - are these to be mail dropped?

The key is to at least target the people who may want to buy the product.


Gyms
Gym Equipment Stores
Web Forums
BBing Competitions
Rugby clubs
Door Security Companies
Boxing & Martial Arts Clubs
Personal Trainer Courses at Universities

These are among some of the places where you will find your potential clients.
Do they have newsletters?
Sponsorship of somekind?
Events to hand out flyers?
BB comps - goody bags/printed carrier bags

On here is where I would be looking primarely.
Gyms and clubs.


Have a look where GNC normally advertise etc

nice idea

ORIGINAL: greg_rfc

Local Radio without a doubt, target audience is massive. Thousands of people listen to the radio in the car on the way home from work etc, and don't flick over when adverts come on due to most people having a fav station and sticking to it...

AND, its pretty cheap...

true m8, but local radio isn;t a particularly good target audience how many radio listeners train? depends on the type of show its advertised on of course, but it cant be that high?! agree with ppl not changing over.

however, if he could advertise at the local gyms, schools, sports clubs etc then that would be VERY strongly offering a target audience. offer a discount to students (schools & university gyms). heck, if he was really clever he could persuade the gym owners to include 1 of his flyers with every routine/induction they give their customers. expect they will want something in return eg cost price suppliments or money.

also start of in your area, ppl live nearby they can collect & save on shipping!!!

would be worth attempting to distinguish himself from his competitors- hes ot gonna manage this on price with the online ppl so would have to offer something more down to earth, personal and ideally free samples. say (with gym owners permission) offer free 16g PWO shakes (enough to keep them going until they get home) to all gym users. they can try all the flavous and decide what flarour they like the most.

also would be worth including on the flyers some basic information on protein, creatine, bulk shakes etc!!! stressing its completely normal derrived from milk, creatine in meat, bulk shakes for those without the time to cook etc etc

dam i should have been a business man

Based on experience...

The best form of advertising would be word of mouth/ customer satisfaction/ involving a local charity


Not sure how any of this would/could fit in with plans you have though



All the best

www.musclelabs.co.uk

With over 21000 members and many others who just read MT some level of sponsorship would reach the right market. I'm sure James has various levels that you could take up