It’s no secret that most entrepreneurs or businesses starting out have very little capital to spend on much of anything. At the same time – getting the word out about your new product is critical, but not always cheap. Paying for advertising can get expensive – actually very expensive if you ever want to think about getting your product or service promoted on television or radio. A 30-second tv ad can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, including video production costs, network airtime, etc. Launching a media buy campaign with display ads on major internet channels can also get costly real quick. So is there any hope at all for the “little guy” to have a chance at these types of campaigns?
Actually, there is. I recently heard about a company that will help out businesses with funding for advertising. The Media Funding Corporation has been in business since 1999, and have helped lots of companies advertise for next to nothing up front. It was founded by Peter Bieler – who is the creator of the now famous Thigh-Master (As-Seen-on-TV fad that sold millions).
The way it works is that they will take the risk and put up the money needed – in exchange for a certain amount of your revenue when the ad campaign has gone live and is generating sales. Their only requirement is that you must “maintain a profitable campaign”. Having a solid product or service that is already showing promise and sales is a huge plus. Don’t expect to go to these guys with your completely un-tested new concept product and think they’re fund a $100k tv ad for you. As with so many other things in business – showing credibility is key.
By the way, I am no way affiliated with these guys – I just thought the concept was really interesting. I may or may not actually try this out at some point when I get one of my physical product ideas produced.
Would you give this a shot?