First off WELCOME to the forum.
To the point, just because the above business model doesn't work for you doesn't mean it won't work for someone else. Our company is about to "officially" turn 9 years old and to date we have never paid for a single advertisement. We have an "Agreement" with a local news agency in regards to advertising. They give me a call if they have something "specific" they want shot otherwise we just give them local shots of the area to use as they wish and in exchange they promote our company weekly. Our company has hit 6-figures and we have to figure a lot of our exposure comes from our "Agreement".