Just think about this for a moment…

Tens of thousands of dollars worth of advertising for up to 90% less than what everyone else has to pay…

Sounds pretty enticing, right?

This strategy hinges on a phenomenon called Remnant Advertising, a must-have for small business owners wanting to do more with less.

What Is Remnant Advertising?

Media outlets have a lot of space to fill, but not always the ads to fill it.

If there’s not an ad available, public service announcements are often used to fill the space. But businesses that buy remnant advertising can fill those slots instead – for at least 25 percent off (and sometimes up to 90 percent off) the regular price!

Media outlets win because they’re still getting money, and businesses win because they’re getting extra bang for their buck, allowing even small businesses to play alongside the heavyweights.

How Do I Get Remnant Advertising?

In most cases, it’s as easy as asking…

If you work with sales representatives from a media company, they probably aren’t going to suggest remnant advertising.

Why would they?

They’re running a business too, and they need to turn a profit just as you do. That means you’ll need to ask directly for information about how the company’s remnant advertising works – how much it costs, and perhaps most importantly, what their production needs are.

And if you’re going to ask for remnant advertising, because of the last-minute nature of the whole thing, media outlets will need to have your ad on hand to quickly grab if needed, so be sure to have your ads print ready (in a range of sizes) before you even make the call.

An existing relationship with a media outlet will give you the advantage when it comes to remnant advertising. Sometimes, with broadcast media for example, it works in your favor to buy a few scheduled spots, and then ask to also take on remnant ad slots.

Keep It Simple

There’s one big downside to remnant advertising…

The ads can’t be timely.

You can’t have a remnant ad touting your giant sale on Saturday because there’s no guarantee when the ad will run…

For this reason, you’ll need to keep them as timeless as possible. Because the ads are put in at the last minute, there’s no time to make changes…

Make sure you provide a simple ad that can be run at any time.

Having ads of different sizes at the ready will increase the number of times your ad gets used for print media. While small ads are important (there are often tiny holes that need to be filled), you can expand your arsenal by having a quarter-page ad, a half-page ad, and even a full-page ad that can be plugged in if needed.

The same goes for broadcast ads. Even a 15-second ad is useful, since broadcast outlets generally have a certain time frame that must be filled during each commercial break. You’ll want to be flexible with ads, and have versions that range from 15-45 seconds that can go in wherever needed.

Remnant advertising likely won’t meet all your needs, since you never know when they will run – which means it could be aired at 3am, when most of your ideal customers are sleeping…

It also isn’t the best way to promote a sale or a limited offer…

But remnant advertising does serve a purpose as a supplemental, hugely cost effective method of spreading your message. The best part of all – it saves you cash while still driving business. Think of remnant advertising as another important spoke in your Money Wheel…

In your corner,

Charlie