Advertising Budget - Zero Dollars

How much is your advertising budget? Is it calculated as a percent of your sales which would increase or decrease as your sales did likewise? Or is it a fixed amount each year? Or could it be that you don't have a budgeted amount and you just spend freely?

I was driving to a nursing home today where we gather once a month to sing for the residents. We drove by one of my favorite places to eat. In my opinion, they have the best chicken salad sandwich on the planet. Anyway, as we passed by, we both noticed that their sign was looking quite old and in need of a new paint job. Then I thought, I bet they don't spend a dime on advertising. I've been going to this restaurant for over 20 years. I may only go 3 or 4 times a year. But anytime I think of this place, it's usually to tell someone just how truly awesome it is.

It's not much more than any other deli out there. And there are literally thousands of them. They serve lunch. Same location for 20+ years. And sometimes the line stretches out the door.

You don't have enough money in your advertising budget to pay for the kind of reputation they have. What are you doing in your business to build the kind of reputation it takes to reduce your advertising budget to zero?