One of the greatest challenges for business owners is getting customers in the door, and that generally requires advertising dollars. And, it takes a fairly large slice of a promotional budget to sustain; especially in major media like TV, print or radio. The question becomes, where can a business gain effective exposure at little or no cost?

There is good news! SchoolHeart, Inc. has developed a program whereby any business can gain local and national advertising, and even help others in the process! If you are striving to find new ways of growing your business, you could hire a PR firm, or you could save your hard earned profits and sign on to the SchoolHeart® hCard® program.

SchoolHeart® value fundraising puts community first, and the community is where most businesses need continual exposure. The value comes from the hCard®, which affords cardholders hundreds of dollars in savings, provides much needed revenue for schools and nonprofit organizations, and provides businesses with "inexpensive and effective" advertising.

The hCard® program is not like most one-time ads that last only a week or two, but an ongoing business generator, with exposure for as long a discount or incentive is provided. And it gets better, the exposure increases continually, every time a new school and nonprofit joins the program, and every time someone purchases an hCard®! The SchoolHeart® program actually picks-up "value momentum" for the long-term, rather than losing steam like most advertisements.

The Online hCard® Directory is where cardholders visit to find discounts or special offers close to home or across the country. Locations are found by zip code, mileage, city, or state. The hCard® Directory provides a description and directions for your business, maps, website links, and more. Cardholders have three great reasons to participate; year-round savings at multiple locations, helping their favorite school or nonprofit organization and Emergency Contact support.

For the business owner there is ease of execution with a minimum of time invested, no contracts, flexible promotional offers, category search capabilities, a monthly newsletter, and an increasing loyal customer list. Participating merchants also receive two hCard® stickers for their place of business. SchoolHeart® cause-related marketing provides FREE cards to school employees, local firefighters, law enforcement officials, and other first responders.

Business owners are catching on to the fact that online markets are booming, and have gone well beyond the projected $70 billion. With no geographic boundaries, exposure on the internet is local, as well as national. The combination of online exposure, being a recognized benefactor to those in need, and saving the consumer money is hard to beat.

Taking advantage of the information age, consumers are turning to the Internet to research products and services before they buy, while large corporations, such as Staples, Office Depot, and Wal-Mart spend huge dollars to drive traffic to local stores. They know people spend 80% of their income within 20 miles of home. Most businesses can't compete with corporate deep pockets, but now it doesn't take thousands of dollars to have a successful web presence. SchoolHeart® has the perfect solution to community synergy, providing much needed help to nonprofits, businesses and cardholders alike. What could be better than free local and even national publicity for your business? SchoolHeart will help you network with your community, and from sea to shining sea. Remember, the hCard® holder is just a mouse click away.