It seems like the cost of everything associated with doing business is rising. But the one thing that is actually going down, and going down dramatically, is advertising.

I’m not talking about the traditional forms of advertising: print media, radio and TV ads, and direct mailing. These are still costly and mostly unaffordable for a smaller business. But we now have social media as a viable alternative that costs little more than a few moments of time.

A presence on social sites like Instagram, Facebook, Linkedin and many others can put your work in font of potential customers. And it can be done much more effectively than the traditional advertising platforms and do so with virtually no cash outlay

It’s true that some of the social media sites have taken a bit of a hit lately with the issue of information mining and misuse of personal data looming large. But my thinking is if you are on the internet at all, your personal data is already available to anyone with even a basic understanding of how to access it. And if there is nothing to hide, there should be little to fear.

There is also the problem of spam and internet con games that have to be sidestepped. But these are usually easily recognizable and not much more difficult to deal with than the junk mail that we remove from out mailboxes and stuff directly into the trash.

In the next few posts, I’ll outline some specific procedures for establishing a strong social media presence that can add dollars to your bottom line.