I haven't been doing this as long as many on this board, about 8 years, but I'll give you a list of what I tried and whether or not it paid off.
Yellow Pages: Don't bother
Newspaper ad: Don't bother
Radio ads: Don't bother
Name number on truck: Well worth it
Went to Chamber site and emailed all members: Not worth it
Joined Chamber and went to several events: Not worth it
Mailing with flyer and business card: Pretty good
Door to door: Didn't help much
Cold calling: Didn't help and I hated doing it
Listing on Sundance and a few other sites: Has helped, mostly with nationals. Of course as was stated, check here before accepting work from a national. Search the site to see if they've been cussed or discussed before.
As others have said, word of mouth seems to be the best. I'll be the first to tell you I'm no salesman, so that may be why the door to door and cold calling didn't produce much, actually seemed to piss people off more than help. I've had my best luck with mailings with introductions, flyers or brief news letter, always with business card enclosed.
