The same question always comes up when it's time for every business to develop their marketing campaign: how much should we spend for marketing our business?

The answer: it depends on the marketing tool for every company. The marketing campaign used should be the most suitable to get the return on investment that you want.

For most companies, especially those that have been in the business for many years, they know which from the many marketing strategies work for their needs and purpose. It may be a brochure; some are most comfortable with catalogs and flyers; and still some opt for full color business cards.

The bottom line here is to know which vehicle to use for your own business needs. When you have chosen your marketing tactic then it's time for you to develop your marketing budget.

Normally, experts would suggest that you put 20% of your budget, including your time, into your marketing efforts. And then you invest another 20% on a regular basis. When it becomes a routine and you somehow reach some of your objectives, you either decrease your time spent or your budget.

Still others would recommend that your marketing efforts should be minimized as your business grows. However, despite the success you have, you still need to market your business to attract new customers and maintain the old clients to your fold. Promoting to repeat customers is as demanding as generating new ones. You need to continuously market if you want to stay in business for a long time.

And if you're working on a limited budget, here are a few suggestions to help you jumpstart your marketing campaign:

Networking is the most popular strategy for small businesses. Nevertheless, this is the most poorly implemented. In a function, it is very common to see people trying to meet as many clients as possible. They hand out as many business cards as they can, with the objective of reaching out to the most number of prospects. What they don't understand is that the most effective networking strategy is to build on a relationship that allows you to have referrals.

Referrals, on the other hand, are used to make sure that you get someone to pass your full color business cards to another person. Here you have a more active approach. You actually ask the client for a referral. You ask them to hand out your business card to a prospect that might need your help.

Writing can be used to identify you as an expert in your business niche. This is especially helpful when you want to drive traffic to your website.

Developing good marketing copy makes a difference when you want to stand out. In every brochure or catalog or even a flyer, a good copy almost always gets clients to want to read more of what you have to offer.

There are still many ways to market your business even on a shoestring budget. The only thing to remember is to find out what marketing tool will work best for your business needs. When you do, use it consistently and see how much you can grow your business.