Incentives to Grow

Marketing: Word of mouth, yellow pages, yard signs, website, quality work, flyers, sure.... How important is it to market through these various channels and which work better than others. Should I have pens, hats, uniforms, calendars with my name as holiday gifts?

Maybe and More Importantly,

As a small company how might the owner grow his business through employee incentives, not just employees that come to work for a paycheck?
Are there tangible ways to show employees risk/reward incentives?

Much thanks in advance for any ideas!