Advertising Your Online Home Business Offline
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.
Bob Withers is a professional sales and marketing person with over twenty years in the field. He has also turned his sights on Affiliate Marketing to apply his trade. Bob changed career paths four years ago when both he and his wife began working with Autistic adults in the US, which along with his Home Business and Affiliate Marketing, is his focus right now. If you want to get in touch with Bob or learn more about Affiliate Marketing and Home Business opportunities please visit:
Free Home Business and Affiliate Marketing Advice
This is my new Blog and having been away from it for a couple of years it’s great to be back because I really enjoy it. Just to tell you something about myself, my wife and I are currently working with Autistic adults in the state of Maine and we love it. Although we’re from Canada, originally from Newfoundland, this is our second stint working in Maine and the two men we are working with this time around are great. We’ve become very attached to these young men and we consider ourselves to be a family. Actually our job title is that of Therapeutic Foster Parents and of course we take it very seriously. One of the main reasons we take it so seriously is that we are advocates for these young men because at times they can’t speak for themselves.
The sad part about our job here in Maine is that we have to leave the country after 18 months. The reason for this being the company who hired us and sponsored us into the US could only get us into the country by way of a Training Visa with the main condition being we have to leave after 18 months. We were here under the same circumstances in 2007 and had to leave the guys we were caring for at that time at the end of 2008.
This of course was very difficult for the three men we were working with and living with at the time and it was also very difficult for us because we became very attached and as I mentioned earlier we became a family. One of the main benefits of coming back is that we get to see the guys we worked with on our first visit and we also get to do what we enjoy which is caring for and helping these young men.
Because of our love for what we do and for the people we work with I will be dedicating a Page on this website to Autism and to the people who live with it on a daily basis. I’m hoping this will help educate people who aren’t familiar with what is fast becoming a global concern and help to raise funds for research.
The other objective of this website is to offer Home Business advice and present opportunities to people who are interested in making a legitimate living by working from home.
I’m hoping to have a great deal of relevant content added soon and I hope people will make it a point to visit often. Thank you for visiting and for taking the time to read this information.
The following two videos should give you some idea of the majestic beauty of Newfoundland:
I’ve added a video below, one of which is actually an advertisement by a local brewery located in St. John’s, Newfoundland which is where I’m from. But it contains some great shots of the area and I like to think portrays what we, as Newfoundlanders, are all about: People who care about people, who work hard and play hard but aren’t afraid to laugh at ourselves. In the following videos you will see many examples of this outlook on life as portrayed by local entertainers performing at what we call “Kitchen Parties”.
These are events where neighbours come together to have a few drinks and entertain one another through song and dance. Please take the time to have a look.