If you follow the stock market you know it is not faring too well. While it has been up, it’s also gone right back down, losing all of the gains so far this year! Not a pretty picture. The reality is that most of us small business owners have little or no control over what happens on Wall Street. What matters most to us is what happens on Main Street.

On Main Street, we small business owners have to wear many hats. The problem is that most of us spend way too much time wearing operations and administration hats while neglecting to wear our marketing hat which is what we need to make our businesses grow and flourish.

Marketing is one area where small business owners on Main Street do have some control, if they understand which marketing strategies will give them the biggest bang for their marketing buck. Thanks to the internet, smart phones and a host of innovative technologies, small business owners have access to a wide variety of cost-effective marketing strategies.

  However, one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies that small business owners frequently overlook is not new at all. Ancient merchants utilized “live event marketing”. Vendors would travel from near and far to meet buyers face to face and sell their products and services on the main streets of villages and towns. These early markets were “alive” with colorful images, a cacophony of sound, mouth watering flavors, intoxicating scents and handmade tools and utensils. It was also quite common for various types of entertainers, musicians and actors to perform.

These ancient merchants had no need for sophisticated marketing strategies to reach different demographics. They simply engaged their prospects in ways that are more difficult to do using today’s multi-media. Here for example: