Top 10 Ways to Market Your Website Offline
If you have a website, you are
constantly bombarded with information about how to promote it, from
pay-per-click search engines to submitting articles to exchanging links with
other sites. The sheer volume of information that one encounters when embarking
on Internet marketing is just overwhelming.
As I was talking to a potential client the other day, the topic of promoting her
company's website came up, and I knew that my telling her about all of the ways
to conduct online marketing would just sound like gibberish to her. So, instead
I started rattling off all of the offline ways she could promote the new
website. These she understood and they made sense, as she could relate them to
traditional marketing techniques. It occurred to me that in our quest to be the
biggest and baddest online, we often forget to use more traditional means to get
the word out about our online presence.
So, here's your checklist of the top 10 ways you can market your site offlline
that won't break the bank:
1. Collateral
Materials: Print your URL and email
address on all of your collateral materials, including letterhead stationary and
envelopes, business cards, postcards, greeting cards, business checks, mailing
labels, invoices, brochures, fax cover sheets, print newsletters, press
releases, and customer feedback forms. By doing this, everyone with whom you
have any contact has your website address. Many of these items pass through tons
of hands, and you never know who might see one piece of your collateral material
and become a customer.
2. Front Door
of Your Business Location: Do you have a
retail location? If so, somewhere on your front door or in the window near your
entrance, place a sign that says, "Open 24 hours a day online at
www.YourWebsiteName.com". You could also add this to the permanent outdoor
business sign. Let your website do your selling for you!
3. Voicemail
Messages: On your voicemail message,
include your website address in the content of the message, letting listeners
know that they can find information about you and/or buy products and services
via your website. If you have music or a message that plays while callers are
on hold, incorporate your website URL into the information that they hear.
4.
Promotional Items: Plaster your URL all
over any promotional items that you might give away -- mousepads, pens, magnets,
notepads, etc.
5. Automobile:
Use your car to advertise your website for you as you go to client meeting or
run errands around time. Place your website URL on removable vinyl magnetic
signs on the doors of your vehicle, vinyl cling signs on your back windshield,
or I.D. It Plates (www.iditplates.com)
on the back of your car.
6. Clothing:
Have clothing printed with your web address and logo and give them to friends
and family members to wear around town -- baseball caps, T-shirts, button-down
shirts. Or, you can give them away as prizes or promotional items. Have your
friends and clients become a walking billboard for your website!
7. Media
Opportunities: If you're a guest on a
radio or TV show or being interviewed by a newspaper reporter or magazine
writer, make sure that your website address is mentioned. For television
appearances, have the show scroll your URL across the bottom of the screen. For
print media, ensure that your website address appears in your quote as a part of
your business name, or in the back of the magazine in the resources section for
articles.
8.
Advertising: Whether you advertise in a
newspaper/magazine, television or radio ad, local cable advertising, program
booklet, visitor's guide, coupon promotion, or on the back of a regster tape,
make sure your website address appears. If you are listed in your local
telephone directory, have your website printed as a part of your listing.
9. Guest
Books: If you're in a bed and breakfast,
salon, or gift shop with a guest book, sign it and leave your website address.
The guest books are usually left in public places and are perused by guests
while waiting for appointments.
10.. Virtual
Grand Opening: Brick and mortar
businesses hold ribbon-cuttings and grand openings all the time. Why not do the
same thing with announcing your new (or updated) website? You can send
announcements to the local newspapers and media or to current or potential
clients. I recommend that you send a postcard with the front page of your
website on it, and
www.webcards.biz does this beautifully!
Bonus tips:
11. Email
Signature: Any time you send out an
email, send it from an email address that includes your domain name (instead of
your AOL or Earthlink account, for example), and create a signature file in your
email program that includes your website URL. You can also create a special
offer in your email signature to drive people to visit your website, like giving
away a free e-course or special report. Here's my email signature:
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Donna L. Gunter, M.Ed., Online Business Coach
mailto:coach@OnlineBizCoachingCompany.com
409-883-2148 (voice)
http://www.OnlineBizCoachingCompany.com
Get your free ebook, TurboCharge Your Productivity: 50 + Tools
To Help You Automate Your Business and Make More Profit in Less Time
Online!, at our site!
Read about running an online biz at our blog,
http://onlinebizcoachingcompany.typepad.com/online_business_coaching_/
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
12. Business
Name Tag: When you go out into your
community or are running errands or are attending networking events, wear a
custom name tag with your business website URL prominently featured, along with
a catchy slogan. Your local printshop should be able to help you design a
permanent name tag, or you can purchase an LED scroll message badge (Google "LED
scroll message badge" for suppliers) and get noticed!
13. Outgoing
Mail: Stamp your website URL (or have
special stickers made) on the outside of all outgoing postal mail, and include
your business card inside the envelope. Do this for both business and personal
mail, as well as when paying your bills.
Don't become a victim of tunnel vision when you're trying to spread the word
about your website. Try a few of these simple, off-line marketing techniques
and get your site noticed!
(c) 2009 Donna Gunter
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Internet Marketing Automation
Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals create prosperous
online businesses that make more profit in less time by teaching them how to
automate their businesses, leverage their expertise, and get found online.
Would you like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get
results? Discover how to increase your visibility and get found online by
claiming your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at ==>
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