By Charity Bishop, Editor
You’ve finally started your small business. The one you worked and saved for all your life, or even moved into Elbert County to open. Your life savings are riding on your success.
The first year of a business is the hardest. That’s when most of them fail. Some go under in six months, others fizzle out over a year. Why? Because they can’t reach enough customers.
But it doesn’t have to be that way for you.
The #1 mistake new businesses make is not to budget for consistent advertising. That old saying, “You have to spend money to make money” is true. You know how to stretch a dollar, but if there’s one area you shouldn’t cut out of the budget, it’s advertising, especially in a trusted local paper like ours.
Here’s why it matters.
1. “If You Build It, They Will Come,” Doesn’t Work
You can have the best burger joint, the best for-rent big machinery, or the coziest shop in town… but if nobody knows you exist, they won’t show up.
Business means hustling. Going out and finding your customers where they are.
Posting on social media and hoping people find you is like setting up a table in the middle of a field and waiting for foot traffic. Online, you are one voice in a billion, all screaming for attention. Competing with ad blockers, skim-readers, and video content.
Our customers are a captive audience who is excited to get a Prairie Times in their mailbox every month. It’s our personal letter to them, and they look forward to it like a care package from grandma. And it only costs you a few cents per household to be part of that care package.
Advertising is how you go out and find your customers instead of waiting for them to stumble upon you. And the businesses that do this succeed.
2. Free Online Advertising Has Hidden Costs
You may assume you can do all your marketing online, but it doesn’t work without websites that rank you in search engines. One bad online review can bring your star rating down. Not only that, people don’t review businesses unless it’s to complain. You don’t want someone to search for “a X in Elbert County” and see a low star rating from an irate former customer with rage issues.
In the Prairie Times, you get to make a first time and a lasting impression on our readers in the exact way you want them to remember you.
Yes, the internet is “free” (not really) but only if you have time, creativity, and a bit of luck.
- Posts get buried in seconds.
- Algorithms decide who sees your message (spoiler: usually not many).
- You’re competing with thousands of voices, and most folks scroll right past.
Unless you’re spending money on boosting posts, your “reach” may be only a few dozen people, not the steady, local crowd you really want. So put your money to work some place that will get results!
3. Print Advertising Reaches the People Who Shop Local
When you advertise in the Prairie Times, you’re speaking directly to your neighbors:
- Ranchers, retirees, and homeowners who prefer paper in hand
- Loyal readers who trust the businesses that show up regularly
- Folks who still believe in “shop small” and “support local”
They’re looking for services they need and businesses they can trust. You are not a nuisance to them, but a member of our advertising family; because you support our paper, they get it for free once a month.
4. Advertising Is an Investment, Not an Expense
You don’t plant a seed and call it wasted water. Advertising works the same way.
A small, regular ad:
- Builds name recognition
- Establishes trust
- Reminds readers you’re here and open for business
Even if they don’t need you today, they’ll remember your name when their water pump stops working, they need a realtor to sell their parents’ house, or their current insurance agent raises their rates.
Final Thought: You’re Not Just Selling a Product, But Building a Relationship
If you want to last, your customers need to feel like they are your friends. Small businesses thrive on repeat customers, but you need to get them to call you first. Constant advertising in a publication that aligns with your values is how you create a bond.
If you want your community to support you, they need to see you. Not just once. Often.
So go ahead. Put advertising with the Prairie Times in your budget as a smart, steady investment in the future of your business.
