Thomas Jefferson said "The man who stops advertising to save money is like the man who stops the clock to save time..." Yes we know free is better, etc. etc. but sometimes small businesses really need to consider shelling out some actual dollars in order to produce a vibrant, effective message. Yes, we mean actually paying for advertising.

When talking about paid advertising we are generally speaking of three mediums: print, television and radio. These mediums may be considered somewhat traditional, with many small businesses going guerrilla these days and employing grassroots strategies at little to no cost.

Small businesses have notoriously under-spent when it comes to advertising, but at one point, print, television and radio were the only options for business owners - they must have been doing something right! So how does a modern day small business owner navigate these tricky waters and get the best advertising bang for their buck?

Many experts argue that the digital vs. traditional advertising is not 'an either / or proposition'. The proper balance between the two is the recipe for success.

The key to paid advertising is budget planning. Break out your calculator and be prepared to do a lot of research. The first number to generate is your total budgeted allowance for advertising. Make this a yearly or monthly budget for easiest allocation.

To calculate the recommended budget:

1. Deduct annual occupancy costs (rent) from your projected annual, gross sales. This recognises that a proportion of the costs of being where you is part of your marketing strategy.
   
   
2. Take both 10 percent and 12 percent of this net figure and multiply each by the mark-up made on your average transaction. (Note here - the gross mark up, not the margin).
   
   
3. The remaining balances represent suggested minimum and maximum allowable ad budgets for the year.

Once you have a budget in mind, you can consider a mix of the different mediums, which will ideally include traditional and online channels. You can also now incorporate all the no-cost efforts into the plan at this stage.

When considering the options, examine each and determine their reach, diversity and speed in terms of delivering your message. These factors should help in deciding which methods will complement each other and make the most of your carefully allocated advertising dollars.