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If you're trying to start a business for yourself, chances are high you don't have a bunch of money stocked away. And while there are small business loans, these can be tough to get for a small business like a writing business. So, instead of having to drain your savings, you simply need to learn how to spend the money you do have more wisely. Marketing is one area in which you can conserve your funds without losing your power of advertising. After all, how else are you going to get new clients to find you and to pay you?

Use Your Email Account

One of the easiest ways to start spreading the word about your business is through your email account. This should be an account that uses either your name or the name of your business as the main part – i.e. YOURBUSINESS@aol.com. This way, your business name is immediately identifiable, while also being simply for a client to find when contacting you. You will also want to find out what kind of signature functions your email account has. This is a section of each email you send that will include some basic information about what you do and where people can find you. You might include, for example, a slogan from your business website or perhaps the website address. Others like to include their office phone number as well as quote they feel speaks to the purpose of their business. When you set this signature, it will be automatically added to the end of every email, allowing your contact information to spread among friends and then friends of friends, often leading to new contacts and clients.

Think About Blogging

Everyone is blogging these days – from kids to grandparents and everyone in between. If you want to start spreading the word about your writing business (and you don't want to spend money doing so), a blog can be a great idea. This blog can be about anything you are interested in, so long as it's well written (of course) and it includes a number of keywords that will help people find you – i.e. writing, copywriting, ghostwriting, etc. When you include strong writing as well as keywords, you will increase your visibility on the search engine ranking pages. To further spread the word about your blog, put the link on your emails and post links from other sites which are similar to your own on your actual blog. You can also ask other blog owners to post your link in order to help everyone out with self-promotion.

Business Cards Are Not Dead

While it might seem silly to still carry around business cards, these little pieces of paper still carry a lot of weight. Whenever you are out talking about business, you can hand out your card (or ten) to see whether you can get any clients in that way. It's quite surprising just how far a business card will go when you give it away, after all. Give these cards to friends, family, and to anyone you meet that seems even the least bit interested. Thankfully, there are a number of business card websites who are willing to give you a large quantity of cards for a low price – especially for first time customers. Try Overnight Prints (www.overnightprints.com) or VistaPrint (www.VistaPrint.com), for example. There are hundreds of ways to spread the word about your writing business, and most of them don't cost a cent. Just think about how to spread your name to as many people as possible – and wait for people to begin to seek out you and your writing skills.