Anybody engaged in the business of food catering must never take for granted the importance of good advertising and promotion. Yes, even in the midst of a recession, advertising and promoting your products and services are essential. The moment you stop to do this is like a business suicide.

Everybody knows of course how expensive it can be to advertise, more than ever now when the whole world is in the middle of a crisis. However, with a bit of creativity, you will still be able to get your product out there, recession or no recession.

One tip is to partner with other small business owners that are not your competitors. Ask them to post your fliers to their windows and display your business cards on their counters, and do the same thing for them.

Giving out coupons or free samples is another effective but cheap way of advertising your product. People are naturally drawn to freebies, so plan carefully how you can use this tip to your advantage. Don’t just think of competing on the price alone, however. Although people generally would love products that are cheap, most of them are actually wise shoppers who usually go for quality and not for quantity.

Moreover, if tinkering around the World Wide World is almost second nature to you, then you should know that there are practically no limits with what you can do to bring your name out. Take advantage of social networking sites and big companies like Google, FaceBook and LinkedIn to attract potential customers without having to spend a dime for advertising.