When establishing a home based Internet business, the owner often makes the mistake of ignoring offline marketing strategies in order to concentrate on Internet marketing. There are many offline marketing techniques available to online home business owners which can help establish an online presence.
There are many marketing opportunities offline and, in my opinion, these are the top ten. I’ll take the David Letterman approach and start with number ten which is implement a Direct Mail campaign. Create your own mailing list by contacting your local Chamber of Commerce, the Better Business Bureau or trade associations around your city or town. You can have a brochure printed advertising your home business and include a discount offer or some kind of freebie for checking out your web site.
Number nine on our top ten list is write a monthly newsletter which you can print and distribute free of charge to local trade associations and business groups and local businesses as well. Again offer some type of promotion to attract people’s attention in order to get them on your web site.
Number eight distribute flyers and put up posters around town. Place posters in supermarkets, in shopping malls, at the YMCA and YWCA and any other high traffic areas you can think of. The more people you can reach with your home business opportunity the more traffic you can drive to your website.
Number seven on our list is place an ad in the yellow pages. It’s an excellent way to get your message out to a large number of people. After all it’s all about reaching as many people as possible.
Number six on our top ten list is make your car a traveling advertisement. You can have a magnetized bumper sticker or banner printed advertising your URL. Or you can go the extra mile and have a professional paint your ad on different areas of your automobile.
Number five is word of mouth. Where ever you go, to the supermarket, to the mall, to a wedding or to a restaurant, try to steer the conversation toward your business and what you are offering. Do this without any pressure and obviously in a casual way. Always carry business cards with you and offer them at every opportunity.
Number four on our list is write up a classified ad for your local newspaper. Try it out for three months and track your results. People are more open to opportunities being offered by someone who is local or from their area and this may translate into increased web site traffic.
Number three, local radio ads scheduled at prime time can be an effective marketing tool. This however may mean a considerable investment on your part but it may be worth checking into to see if your budget can handle the expense.
Number two, billboards and other types of signage in high traffic areas can yield good results. This also may mean a large investment and if you can’t afford the cash outlay a smaller type of sign may be an option. This method can also drive traffic to your web site.
And the number one technique for marketing your home business offline is networking. Contact your local Chamber of Commerce, local business associations and any other business networking groups active in your area and offer to be a guest speaker. Some of these associations meet bi-weekly or monthly and it’s a great way to get to know other business people and to get your name out there. This may be one of the oldest marketing techniques in use today but it’s tried and true and seems to work.
These offline advertising options combined with your Internet marketing campaign may be the route to take to success with your home based online business.