Do you feel like you have a great business idea or new business, but are struggling to get people to take notice of you. This is a very common problem and can become very disheartening for any entrepreneur. It's the vicious circle of not being known leading to few sales and no one willing to take a chance, but without selling your product or service your business won't gain a name for itself.

So, if you are strapped for cash but want to give your idea a chance have a think about some free marketing ideas.

Of course there's social networking. Get your business onto sites like Facebook and Twitter and start talking about it, offering deals, giving advice, posting images and testimonials. Don't expect a fast take off, but bit by bit you'll see your numbers grow. A lot of it will be by word of mouth as customers pass on recommendations.

In a recent blog on LinkedIn a contact said of the growth in start ups, "More people are becoming self-employed and SMEs are being lauded as being the ones to drag UK PLC back into prosperity. Or is it a cynical ploy to reduce unemployment figures by having us creating our own temporary jobs?"

What are your thoughts? It's true that the government is putting a great deal of emphasis on the private sector to help the struggling economy and that more and more people are becoming self-employed. However, what are the reasons behind this increase in self-employment? Is it more opportunities to get into business, the lack of jobs, the public sector cutbacks, working to later ages, increase in university fees putting off potential students, greater encouragement of the entrepreneurial spirit?

Another important question is how successful these new entrepreneurs actually are, as if their new venture fail the unemployment figures, and the economy as a whole, definitely won't show any signs of improvement. So, how much support do new start ups actually get? How easy is it to access finance?