How you can cut your advertising costs without risking your or your company's image.

With a bit of knowledge you can make considerable savings when place advertisements - and you don't have to be difficult and make yourself and your company look cheap.

Before we get into some of the basics - like all good scouts the secret is being prepared.

Buying ad-hoc ad space because someone has contacted you with a special deal is usually a total waste of money. In fact paying for any ad space without a plan is usually a total waste of money.

So the first way of saving on advertising costs is to only buy ad space when you have a reason and it's part of an overall marcomms plan.

Next part of being prepared is make sure you have an ad or at least the basic elements to make an ad which has been well designed and professionally put together. If you rely on the publication to create you an ad, it's usually a total waste of money. Ads for your business or organisation need thinking about and must be put together by someone who knows what they are doing and knows what type of publication you intend to use. It's well worth having a basic ad layout created that you can adapt as the need arises. The response rate will be far superior than an ad which looks poor.

So you can save on your advertising costs by investing in great design and copy.

Let's assume you have your ad and you know which publications would be the best place to create demand for your products or services. If you phone and ask for a media pack you will be sent or be able to download all the information you will need to adjust your ad to fit and find out what the rate card price is. This is the maximum price and you should be looking for a 15% discount for a single ad and if you are placing a series - discounts start at about 30%.

So you can save money by always requesting a discount of the rate card price - and if they won't give you a discount do this.

Say to the publication that you have available ads ready to go in half and full page sizes. These are the most difficult to sell and when the publication is close to print deadlines you will get calls from frantic sales staff if they know you have an ad ready to go. Discount off the rate card should be about 60% but can be more.

Be prepared - have a professional layout which can be quickly adapted. Don't buy ad-hoc spaces, don't ever pay the rate card price, and always have an ad ready to go for the publications you want to be in.