It is not a gimmick. Many Delaware business owners qualify for free local advertising on Philadelphia radio. They pay nothing. Zero. Zilch. Zip. Bupkis. Free.

Henry Ford understood that the continual investment in advertising was necessary for a business to be successful. “Stopping advertising to save money," he said, "is like stopping your watch to save time.”

Sometimes, though, when daily expenses challenge their cash flow,  small business owners must prioritize spending.

When that happens, unfortunately, Mr. Ford’s advice is ignored and buying commercials on Philadelphia radio will move down the list behind making payroll, maintaining delivery vehicles, and replenishing stock.

Many times advertising doesn’t make a list at all.

Some Delaware Valley business owners have discovered that their radio advertising doesn’t have to be sacrificed at all when belts need to be tightened. It turns out there’s a deep pool of “free money” that can be dipped into for the singular purpose of advertising. These funds are called cooperative funds, or co-op for short.

"I credit a ton of our restaurant's success to the advertising we do on Philadelphia radio," says Bonnie-Lynn Schneider. "Without it, I would have no other way to reach new customers from such a wide area."

Over the next 12 months, consumers in the Delaware Valley will spend $11.4 billion in local restaurants and drinking establishment. Dining out accounts for almost 10% of the area's retail economy. Ms. Schneider grabs more than her fair share of those dollars even though her restaurant is in the middle of nowhere.

Since 1927, Ms. Schneider and her family have owned and operated the Pic-A-Lilli Inn on Route 206 in Shamong, New Jersey. That's about a 51-minute drive from Center City, Philadelphia.

The Pic-A-Lilli began life as Snyder's Luncheonette and was owned by Ms. Schneider great-grandfather. When Mr. Snyder passed away ten years later, his daughter Lillian and her husband Pickett Russell, Senior took over the restaurant.

The two new owners decided to combine their first names to create the new moniker, Pic-A-Lilli.

Ms. Schneider joined the family business full-time in 1987 after graduation from Stockton University with a degree in business and marketing. She became the fifth generation of Snyder's to help run the Pic-A-Lilli Inn.

Households in the Delaware Valley are projected to spend $18.7 billion on home improvements over the next 12 months. Landis Block And Concrete in Souderton, PA uses advertising on Philadelphia radio to successfully earn the biggest possible share of those dollars.

The company is co-owned by Jarrod and Jamie Nyce. Their grandfather started the company in 1943 as Nyce Crete in Landis, PA which is still operated by the brothers.  Originally, the company primarily sold ready mix concrete to contractors.

That all changed, when the brother's father purchased Landis Block in 1987.  In addition to serving contractors, the new company had a retail business selling stone, block, concrete products, and other building materials to homeowners and do-it-yourselfers.

Nolan Painting is, by definition, a small business. But, this Havertown based company with 125 employees has grown to be the largest residential painting company in the United States.

For a local contractor to become that large is especially remarkable when the company only paints homes in Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties.  This year, according to April Torrisi, Nolan Painting's Marketing Manager, "we are on track to do $12,000,000 in sales."

"Our company's founder, Kevin Nolan, has a goal of increasing sales by $1,000,000 every year," says Ms. Torrisi, "To add that much revenue we always need to find and hire more painters.  Recruitment advertising on Philadelphia radio is a powerful tool to help us stay fully staffed."

According to Ms. Torrisi, hiring qualified candidates is so vital to achieving the company's aggressive growth goals, that Nolan Painting invests 1.5% of total revenue back into recruitment advertising. This is on top of the 4% committed to traditional brand advertising.