The internet isn't the only way to promote your new site. There are a ton of ways to do so even when you are not by the computer. Here are a few ways: 1) Bumper Stickers - I purchased three bumper stickers that displayed my domain name on them. I put one on my car, and the other two on friend's cars. Traffic started trickling in consistently from this method and after a few months it had proved very profitable. 2) T-Shirts - I never seem to have enough T-Shirts that I like, so I designed about 3 custom shirts for me to wear. On the shirts was my domain and some information pertaining to the niche. This brought in some traffic as well. 3) Leaving Fliers - Some public places allow you to leave fliers. Just print out a piece of paper with your domain and some info and pin it up. I got some great, targeted traffic form this. 4) Talking To Others - Sometimes, you'll meet someone interested in a subject that pertains to your site. Don't be afraid to mention your domain! You may have just earned another subscriber! Does anyone have any other ideas?
I have Business cards made and leave them wherever I can. I use every opportunity to leave a business card behind. Barb
Here are some other ideas: Stationery - Put your Web address on all your business stationery, especially business cards and letterhead. Brochures - Use brochures to present an overview of your business and highlight the benefits of your your product or service. Hand them out or mail them when people ask for more information. Community Boards - You can find sections in many supermarkets, diners, restaurants, laundromats, bookstores, and local businesses where you are allowed to place your business cards, fliers, brochures and announcements. Promotional Items - Coffee mugs, key chains, pens, magnets, calendars, tee shirts and baseball caps, are excellent items to display your company logo or Web address. Sponsor an Event - You can sponsor a neighborhood event for a community organization or little league club and give away brochures and promotional items. Your business will always be associated with the event. Newsletters - If you offer an online newsletter, print copies of it and get permission to leave a few in your doctor's and dentist's waiting rooms. You could also place some on community boards in your town. Card Exchanges - Local business organizations and Chambers of Commerce regularly sponsor events where business owners can exchange business cards, display their products and network with each other. These are great opportunities to establish contacts and develop professional relationships. Press Releases - Send off a one-page press release to your local newspaper, radio and television station announcing the launch of a new product. Editors are always looking for something newsworthy to feature. You could end up with a newspaper article, a radio interview or a television appearance. Church Bulletins - Many places of worship circulate a bulletin at their services that includes inexpensive advertising. You could place a small classified or display ad for an extended period in such a publication. Answering Machine - Your answering machine message can be programmed to mention a new product or special discount and invite callers to visit your Web site for more information. Hermas
I'm glad to hear that you did get some traffic and sales with the offline methods. The main problem with offline promotions is that many methods make it almost impossible to actually market your products to a targeted audience - usually, with offline promotions, you are marketing to a mass audience, and hope you will have some people from your target audience in that audience. I would imagine offline marketing methods work better for certain kinds of products over others, but I guess that also depends on which offline medium you are using - some are much more cost effective than others. There have been a few times where I passed out flyers from house to house (if you ever do this, you may need a permit and make sure NOT to put anything in a mail box, as this is a Federal crime, at least in the USA). I didn't get any sales when I passed out flyers, but I did get a great workout!
I think most people have become so focused on marketing online that they are missing golden opportunities to build their business offline. In my opinion, everyone who has a business whether online or offline should have business cards. Business cards are the perfect "door opener" for you and your business when meeting people. A8ch, those are all highly effective tools for promoting a business offline. Here's an interesting article on the subject: http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/919664/Research-argues-offline-marketing-key-debut- website-visits
Offline can work well under certain circumstances: Flyers and newspaper ads for a local biz. Direct marketing via snail mail works for just about anything if you know how to prepare the materials. Newspapers work great for selling physical goods whether there be one item or a garage sale. Forget about wasting your time and money for any type of "make money online" type of proposal via offline methods. Everyone is immune and wary. I'd suggest sticking with online for driving traffic to a website. Offline methods worked well in the early to mid 1990's but success nowadays ranges from weak to ineffective. ~Newbie Shield~
The premise of this thread is brilliant. I am so tired of hearing the only way to market is online. There is no 1 right way to market your business. It all comes down to building trust. If they trust you they will buy from you. Online or off line a sale is a sale.
I recommend you use all means of advertising you possibly can. Testing has never harmed anyone. It all boils down to your product and using the right words in advertising. Send a survey questionairre to your subscribers at some point asking them questions and include where they got your details from? This will help you decide where to advertise?
I think most people get intimidated with offline marketing is because of cost. Forking out some money for postage and saying a mailing of 5,000 can be daunting. That's why you never such an amount without first testing small. What people fail to realize is that no one is telling you to stop online marketing. But you should "Consider" offline marketing strategies as another lead generating source. What you also must do is sell something on the front end to help defray your cost to market. That's really the key when marketing offline.
Additionally with offline marketing you want to make sure you are involved with a business that has a good commission for one sale. Preferably enough that could cover your marketing. It's hard to market consistently with offline or direct response marketing with a commission based biz that pays less than several hundred dollars per sale or two.
Thanks guys! Excellent recommendations! btw, t-shirts works great for my company - direct traffic volume increased after we launched our t-shirts.
Don't forget about hybrid marketing. Find influential people in your field online (top blogs, Twitterers, etc.) and contact them for a free service or product. You'll get a few people who will bite and then you can send them the stuff offline for them to promote on their site or Twitter feed.
there's plenty to add still: qr codes, all kinds of guerrilla marketing, stickers, street art. the great thing about the last one is that if done beautifully it can then go viral
Using a simple, yet effective promotional item can help increase your bottom line! You especially want a promotional item that can benefit your community, as it can grow your business like a firestorm! Be unique! Be you! Have fun! Brian
