It’s almost common place to expect to see references to Twitter, Facebook and MySpace on cable and national network newscasts.  I suppose it was  just a matter of time to hear references to the major social networking sites on the local news program.  It was also no big shock to hear both the CNN pundits and George Stephanopoulos of ABC News request a follow on Twitter and Facebook during their Sunday morning talk shows.

Shortly thereafter, however, I changed the channel to the local (Kansas City) news channel (KCTV 5) to catch up on the local information and weather.  As luck would have it, I changed channels just as a special feature segment started.

The topic: Low-cost Marketing Techniques for the Small Business Owner.  During the segment, the reporter was interviewing Mr. Jerry Smith with the Marketing Action Club located in the KC Metro area.

Mr. Smith was quick to point out that during these tough economic times, even small businesses need to keep a substantial marketing effort alive.  Failure to do so could result in the customer-base losing contact and confidence in their businesses’ viability.

He specifically pointed out five different low or no-cost methods to maintain a reasonable marketing effort to keep your message in front of your target audience.  To my surprise (only because of where it was mentioned) these included:

1. Article marketing using sites such as Ezine Articles;
2. Social networking presence on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn;
3. Blogging;
4. Email marketing campaigns; and
5. Local networking clubs.

Even though I interact with numerous references to the first four tools online each day, it brought a smile to my face to both see and hear it on a live local TV news cast. I commend Jerry Smith and his Marketing Action Club for a great set of basic tools and insightful message.

All of these tools are indeed low or no cost options to assist anyone (small store-front business, network marketing business or home business) get there message out to their target audience and help build a web marketing presence.

Always remember, however, to use the proper approach and be sure to provide information that helps the prospect or customer find a solution to their problem and just don’t “pitch your product or service”.