There are some basic types of promotion ideas:
flash sales
buy one, get...
coupons or discounts
giveaways or free samples
recurring sales
tripwires
In theory, having a sale is easy enough for a small business: Take a service or product, discount it, get new customers, bring in more money.
But in practice, sales promotions involve a high level of strategy and psychology that even the biggest brands sometimes get wrong. So, how can a small business promote itself?