I find that if you are a little original in your ad copy you can draw dramatic results from a $50.00 ad.

  COMMUNITY PAPERS. I have always run a small ad in the local community paper during the season and it has always proved profitable. I find that if you are a little original in your ad copy you can draw dramatic results from a $50.00 ad. The first thing I do in designing an ad is to go to the paper's office and ask to see last year's ads for that time of year. This way I can find out who my competition is, how much they were charging, how much they spent on their ad, what they said in their ad, and how they presented it. Then I can design an ad that stands out from the crowd. (If everyone is in standard typestyles, then I'll go in reverse letters, white type on a black background, for example). I'll supply my own ad copy instead of having the Paper typeset it for free for me. The extra few dollars I spend having my ad in a different type style and layout is well worth it because the ad immediately jumps out at you when you look at the page withall the standard ads next to it. Small differences can produce huge  results!