Free to under $100
Small business marketing ideas that cost under $100.
Start with the free ones, like a Google Business Profile and reviews from happy customers. Then spend small on things that travel with you: shirts, car magnets, business cards, your laptop lid.
That last one you can make right here. Describe an ad and our AI draws it for your laptop.
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At a glance
Free costs hours. Cheap costs dollars.
Twelve ideas, sorted by what they cost and how much of your time they take. Start in the blue box. The time estimates are ours; tap any idea to read it.
The ideas
12 marketing ideas. Cheapest first. Tap one.
Giving things away? The best promotional items are ranked separately. Want something louder? Try guerrilla marketing.
01 · A Google Business Profile
Free
It’s your listing on Google Maps and Search.
Free · they cost time instead
Free It’s your listing on Google Maps and Search.
Free, and it’s what shows when someone nearby searches for what you do. Add hours, photos and your service area tonight.- Text every happy customer the link the same day. A sentence from a stranger does more than anything you write about yourself.
- A discount for whoever sends you a customer, paid only when one shows up. Print it on the back of your card.
- Neighborhood Facebook groups and Nextdoor. Answer questions in your trade and people remember the name. Read each group’s rules on ads first.
- The coffee shop puts your card by the register; you send customers their way. Pick a business whose customers look like yours.
- Most email tools have a free tier for a small list. One short email a month beats a big one you never send.
- A gardener teaching pruning at the library, a bike shop running a flat-fix night. It takes a day to plan and earns a room of local contacts.
Under $50
A few hundred cost less than $50 at most online printers. Put a QR code on the back that opens your booking page.- A stack and an afternoon of walking. Tear-off tabs with your number still work on a cork board.
- A few branded T-shirts. ASI’s 2026 survey puts a promotional T-shirt at 3,500 lifetime views, and on your own crew it’s seen at every job.
Under $100
Under $100 a pair at most online printers, and they come off for the weekend. Make the phone number big enough to read from the next lane.- A skin with your name, one line and a QR code on the lid you open in front of people all week, $64.93 with shipping, paid once. You can generate the design with AI.
FAQ
Small business marketing questions.
How do I market my small business?
Make it easy to find, then easy to remember. Claim your Google Business Profile, ask every happy customer for a review, and put your name on what you already carry and wear, from your shirt to your car to your laptop lid.
What’s the cheapest way to advertise?
The free ideas, which cost time instead of money: a Google Business Profile, reviews, local groups, a partner business. After that, branded things are cheap per view: ASI’s 2026 survey puts promotional items at 0.6¢ per impression on average.
How do I advertise locally?
Start with your Google Business Profile, since it’s your listing on Google Maps. Then local groups, community boards, a partner business down the street, and your name on things people see around town.
What should your laptop advertise?
Free to start. You pay when you order a skin or want more than 15 AI designs.
Why a laptop lid works as an ad: laptop advertising.