“Tap the Co-op Fund”

Co-op advertising programs are a cost-sharing arrangement between manufacturers and retailers to stretch advertising dollars. Collectively, manufacturers earmark about $30 billion annually for co-op ads. However, much of the money goes unused, reports the Yellow Pages Publishers Association (YPPA). Co-op opportunities are available in every medium, including Yellow Page listings, print ads, radio and TV. For more information, contact YPPA at www.yellowpageblues.com/YPPA.html or (800) 841-0639; or refer to a copy of the "Co-op Source Directory," National Register Publishing, (800) 521-8110.

Writer: Kimberly Stanséll is a Los Angeles-based businesswoman and author of "Bootstrapper’s Success Secrets: 151 Tactics for Building Your Business on a Shoestring Budget," (Career Press).