"What are some cheap but effective advertising ideas for a small company?"

1. Setting up a table at community events.  Make and hand out Frisbee's with your logo. (very cheap about $.90 each) Pencils, pads, etc.,

2. Catholic churches sell small advertisments on their bulletins (most of them anyways)  They usually reach a large audience for a small price

3. Coupon's if that works for your business.  Hire a teen to tuck ads under car windows in the mall parking lot or to hand out your fliers.

4. College bulletin boards

5. Give away food if it is not a food business.

6. Participate in some type of contest which will get you free advertisments.

7. Have your business participate in some significant community service project and have the media cover it.

8. If applicable, have some sort of reward system for satisfied customers who refer friends.  Word of mouth is huge and very effective if you can find a way to utilize it.

I hope this helps.

Post your business cards in places where this is allowed.  Some restaurants and community centers have this.  Also, other small businesses in your area, if any, can help you.  Offer to reciprocate - e.g. if you have a handyman business and you locate someone who makes curtains, then copy their business card (or even tape it) to the receipt you provide your customer.  Ask the other business to do the same with your card.  Rotate cards if you have more than one business ally.

Since the only thing more important than location is reputation, one must choose their business allies who are honest to the core and customer focused.

Hope this helps - this is but one of hundreds of suggestions, too numerous to list here.