If you are looking to advertising for the holidays and do not currently have a plan in place, you are already behind the eight ball.  The holidays are prime advertising time and a lot of companies have had their media buys in place for months.  Before going in to negotiate your media buy through a broker, an agency or directly, be informed and go in with an explicit idea of what your objectives are. 
 
There are a lot of choices for where to invest your media budget, beyond the conventional outlets-- magazines, television and newspaper.  The internet has opened doors where doors previously didn’t exist.  Pay per click campaigns (remembering to include Facebook & G-mail here), banner ads, pop ups and the like can allow advertising on the smallest of budgets.  Budgeting expenses is critical to ensure you don’t overspend and are getting the most for your investment.  Even if you believe your budget is too small, it is definitely worth investigating using an agency for your buy.  Generally, agencies work with media buys every week and have connections for space and pricing that may not be available to just everyone.  And, the good agencies will actually earn their fee. For instance, our San Diego ad agency has a relationship with a company in New York that provides media at substantially lower prices (up to 40% lower), which allows anyone purchasing media to cover 40% more with their existing budget or save 40% to the bottom line.  That is definitely worth the value of a 10 minute phone call to an agency to investigate their connections and see if they are a working fit with your company. BTW...in the old days agency fees were 15% of the Gross. Those days are gone. Look for 10% or less. 
 
Whether you decide to go it alone with your media buys or elicit some help through an agency or broker, the time to act is now.  Holiday media buys are still out there, but you are entering last minute territory, which can be more costly and eliminate some of the choices that might otherwise be available.