Stress, boredom, low-pay, or having an entrepreneurial spirit may all be causes for wanting to leave a 9 to 5 job and become self-employed. Having a goal to become self-employed starts with figuring out what it is you can do to start your own business. Not everyone who wants to work for themselves know exactly what to do and where to start. Below are some low-cost start-up ideas that may get your creative juices flowing.

Freelance Work – If you have a skill such as web programming, copywriting, or other technical skill, then freelance work will be an easy transition. You can simply market yourself and as you get more clients, word of mouth will soon work in your favor. Sooner or later, you will have more work than you can handle – this of course depends on the level of service you provide and the quality of your work. Start-up costs should remain low as you will need at the most: business cards, a web site, software (depending on your skills), hardware (computer), and office supplies.

Drop shipping – I’m sure you have heard of drop shipping before. If not, it is a very low-cost way of selling physical goods without having to buy a ton of stock up front. Most people who use drop shipping have online stores, collect payments from customers, and forward on the orders to the drop ship company which fulfills and ships the products directly to the customer. Most businesses utilize eBay to take advantage of their huge customer base. The costs for this remain relatively low since there is no up front stock to buy. You may have to purchase shopping cart software for your web site, a merchant account, or pay fees if you go with eBay.

Self-publishing on the Internet – Do you have a love for writing? Do you have a skill or talent that you can turn into a how-to guide? You can begin self-publishing your own information products and market them over the internet. What makes this low-cost is because the most you would need to purchase is a web site, web hosting, and possibly some advertising. You could begin this business around $100 or so.

Out of the above examples of low-cost self-employment ideas, my favorite remains self-publishing. Information will never run dry and as long as you are able to help solve someone’s problems, there will be a customer base ready to purchase your products.

Do you skimp on marketing because you think you can’t afford it? Don’t. Instead, read on for some low-cost or even no-cost ways to market your business.

There are many inexpensive ways to market your business. So there’s no need to wait until you have extra cash to spend on marketing.

Yes. You can get started now by marketing on a shoestring budget. How?

One highly effective way to do that is by going online. In the virtual world, there is lots of inexpensive marketing to be had. There is a catch though… You will have to pay one way or another — if you don’t want to pay with money, you will have to put in time (or leverage someone else’s time) to get results.

No matter. If you need to get things going, you may well find this a very useful option.

Here are a few free and low-cost options:

1) Article marketing

Write articles about topics your potential clients would be interested in. This achieves two goals with one easy action: You reach potential clients, and you immediately establish yourself as an expert. The catch? You have to write the articles first and get them published.

2) Twitter

Twitter is a powerhouse for marketing. And it is free as well. However, you’ll have to put in a bit of legwork — you have to set up your account and accumulate and cultivate a list of followers. Once you have done that, you’ll be able to reap the rewards.

3) Facebook

Facebook too is a true marketing powerhouse. And, like Twitter, it’s free. Like Twitter, it too requires legwork. The nice thing is that it works very well together with Twitter, and if you tie the two of them in with article marketing, you’ll have a powerful combination.

4) Opt-in email marketing

All of the above will result in wasted time and effort, however, if you have no way to capture all those leads you’ll generate. By capturing contact information you create a prospect database or “list.” Do you have one or several? If not, it’s high time to build one. The more people you have on your list, the better your return on your investment.

Because here’s the truth about lists: They’re the ultimate marketing tools — more powerful than all the other three taken together. If you have a large enough list of loyal subscribers, you’ll be able to market to them over and over and generate sales. And how’s that for marketing on a shoestring? It won’t even take much time!

You should know though, that a list isn’t totally free, of course. However, it’s very low cost in comparison to the pay-off. You will need an autoresponder service, and probably web hosting and a domain name, at a bare minimum. Plus sweat equity. Get started by setting up a simple lead capture page, or a blog. You’ll also need something to lure those people onto your list – like a free report, a sample or an audio. Then continue to share valuable information so they’ll be responsive to your future offers.

Any one of the above can bring in prospects and buyers, but in combination, they make a highly effective marketing system — and one that won’t cost you an arm and a leg.

Setting up a business can cost a lot of money. Websites are the best way to go for a lot of reasons but even websites cost money. You need a good programmer to make sure your website functions right, you need good hosting, a good domain name and so on. It is important to make your business profitable. Here are some low-cost or free ways to advertise your business.

Here are some free advertising methods. Put your business on Google maps or any other maps from other search engines like Yahoo, MSN and more. This way people will know where you are located. Naturally if people know where you are and what you offer they will be able to get to your business and you will make more sales. You can also find free email templates at Lyris.com/Email_Advertising. Don’t spam people’s email. I know friends that have got in a lot of trouble for that. Look for people who may be interested such as friends, family, etc. You can also ask customers to give you referrals or pass on the good word about your business. I live in a small town so word of mouth is a great way to advertise. It works even in the big cities and is a great free way to build up your business credibility. You also need to optimize your online business so it will attract more targeted traffic and rank higher in the search engines. Do some research on how to do your own SEO. This will help your business greatly.

Here are some low-cost effective advertising methods. You can buy business card templates and design your own business cards. I did this and my cards turned out nice. You can also have someone make the cards for you for a little more money. Pass the cards out to friends, family and link to other businesses. I have exchanged business cards with several businesses and it works great. You make new friends and get more customers too. Don’t try to steal other business customers. This will give you a bad reputation but there’s no harm in sharing customers. You can also post your card on bulletin boards in your community.

Get involved in your community. Attend meetings and be a member of different groups. This will help more people to know you and help your business to be known. This will make people feel like you care about the community and are connected to it. This will help increase your credibility. Article marketing is another great way to advertise your business for free or very low-cost.

Run a contest or have a drawing. People like to win things or to get something for free. I sell soap so I had a drawing and gave a gift basket with my soap and bath products away. The lady who won really liked what she got and happened to be a fellow business woman. This helps to increase your product credibility. You can also do workshops or speeches on your expertise and offer your services for free. This sounds like a sacrifice but it is worth it. People are willing to try free things and this can get them hooked. They may like what you offer so much that they will say it’s worth the money they spend on it.

Be sure that you are friendly and helpful. If you use any of these ideas be patient. Businesses don’t usually boom overnight but don’t get discouraged. Keep trying things until you find what works best for your business.

Marketing is an essential activity for any business. It doesn’t
have to be expensive. In fact, some of the most effective
ways to market your business are also the cheapest. Here
are several ways to promote your business without
spending a lot of money.

Establish a website for your products. This is one of the
best and cheapest ways to promote your products. Once
you have a website, you can put your website address on all
of your business stationary, on your cosmetic labels, and
you can register your website on the internet. Establishing a
professional looking website does not have to be
expensive. Doteasy.com is my personal favorite. You can
get a domain name, website hosting, and web based email
there for $25 a year. They also provide a web building tool
which you can use to get a nice looking website up and
running in under an hour.

Hand out business cards to everyone that might have an
interest in your products. Make sure that your business
cards have your mailing address, phone number, email
address and website address. Visit your local office supply
store for business cards that you can print on your home
computer, or order stock business cards from your local
print shop.

List a few of your products at an online auction site like
eBay. This is one of the cheapest ways to promote your
business. Many online vendors list products at eBay, and
then put their contact information in their “About Me” page, or
send their business contact information enclosed with their
eBay orders.

Send out a press release to tell others about your business.
One of the most popular sites for sending out press
releases online is Prweb.com. You can send one for free
using their service. You should also send out a press
release to your local newspaper. Local papers are hungry
for news about the community, and telling them about your
business should get your business some exposure.

Look for companies in your community that could use your
service or products and tell them what you have to offer. You
can either visit them in person, or send them something by
mail and then make a follow up phone call. If you need help
doing this then ask or hire someone to do it for you.