(FORTUNE Small Business) – Call it the entrepreneur's dilemma: You've got the goods to satisfy your customers, but you just don't have the mass-marketing budget to bring them through your door. What can you do if you have only minimal money for advertising or promotions? How do you get the best bang for your buck?

Get creative! Do something that hasn't been attempted before in your industry, or take a common practice and make it uncommonly better. The public is quick to embrace enthusiasm and inventiveness. And the more imaginatively you buck the norm, the more the media will enjoy covering your actions. Newspapers, TV, radio, trade journals, and magazines are all looking for new sights and sounds for their audiences. And the repercussions of getting coverage can reach all the way down to the bottom line.

When I first took the reins of the Philadelphia 76ers in 1996, for example, the situation wasn't pretty. The Sixers had been a terrible team for several years, and revenue and attendance were down--along with the budget for bringing people back to the arena.

I knew I needed Philly sports fans and visitors to give my product a try, but I also realized that we needed to improve the product. And we did, adding exciting players to the lineup, changing colors on the uniforms and arena floor, and creating an air of entertainment throughout the building. With our brand-new look, attitude, and approach, I was positive that every potential fan who attended a Sixers game would spread the word throughout the city about his exciting experience. We just needed those fans to get there.

So who do you think I embraced to help my mission of spreading the word?

Cab drivers, of course!

We told every taxicab dispatcher in the city that their drivers were welcome to a 76ers gift package--including a pair of Sixers tickets, a new Sixers hat, and a free can of Pepsi--that I would personally hand out in front of City Hall at a particular time. They didn't even have to park! It was a drive-by lunchtime special--one day and one day only. And in the event the "Cap the Cabbie" promotion turned out to be the traffic-jamming success I hoped, my marketing director was ready with the phone numbers and e-mail addresses of all the Philadelphia media for instant notification.

Some city commuters were not too happy that traffic became ensnarled like L.A. at rush hour, but there were others--including countless cabbies and myself--who were smiling like Cheshire cats. The media covered the event on the evening news, precipitating newspaper stories the following day. Coverage and reviews were great, but even more important, the hats covering the cabbies' heads became mini-billboards in their fares' faces for years to come. And you know what? The fans started showing up in droves.