There's an old adage that holds that at least 50 percent of all advertising is a waste of money. It's probably true — and if you can figure out which half of your ad budget is useless, you'll save a bundle. But until you achieve this wisdom (which has so far eluded most marketers), you'd be wise to continue advertising full tilt and not take a chance on eliminating something that just might work.
Here's approximately how the average U.S. ad dollar is spent:
| Newspapers | 25 percent |
| Television | 25 percent |
| Direct Mail | 18 percent |
| Radio | 6 percent |
| Magazines | 5 percent |
| Billboards/Outdoor | 1 percent |
| Other | 20 percent-and it's these mini-media you need to know about! |
| Total | 100 percent |
Here are the major types of advertising used by small businesses: