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Offline Advertising For Internet Businesses
Naz Daud
Naz Daud - CityLocal UK Business Franchise Ireland Business Franchise Internet Business Franchise
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Have you considered offline advertising for your internet business? Surprisingly very few people do think through this concept, and yet it can prove to be one of the most successful ways of increasing your business revenue. Certainly, it is important to promote your business online; using keyword placement, search engine optimization, reciprocal links, pay-per-click advertising and other such methods, but sometimes one of the quickest and most effective ways of promoting your business is waiting on your doorstep.
One of the reasons why many people don't consider offline advertising is that they can't think of any successful methods which can be used that don't cost an arm and a leg. Television adverts, radio and billboard adverts cost a fortune and it is generally only those businesses which are already huge that can afford to run such promotions.
However, with a little bit of imagination you can easily create a significant boost for your online business, at very little cost. It might take up some of your time, but for a day's work advertising your website, you could see yourself making significantly more money over the next few weeks and months. Everyone can do with a bit of a boost at the moment and a successful offline advertising campaign could be exactly what your website business needs.
The exact nature of the offline promotion you undertake will depend largely on the amount of money you have to spend, as well as the amount of time you have available. The quickest and cheapest option is to print off a few thousand flyers and distribute these. If you create a flyer on the computer, make sure it looks smart and professional, grabs attention, and makes a good point, as well as providing the necessary contact information.
Don't limit yourself to just the website address - some people might be interested but not have access to a computer, so including a phone number can be helpful. If you don't want to give out your home number, why not pick up a cheap cell phone and use that?
As far as distributing these flyers is concerned, why not visit the local parking facility at the nearest shopping mall or superstore? Tucking these flyers under the windscreen wipers of a few hundred cars won't take long. Admittedly, you know the success rate won't be high, but you aren't trying to attract everyone - just enough to make a difference. Let's say that there are 1,000 cars parked that day in a number of car parks - what sort of return would you like?
Being honest, one return is likely to be a customer you wouldn't have had previously, and it may well prove to be a returning customer in the future, or someone who promotes your business for you through word of mouth. However, in reality you could find yourself with between a 1%-5% success rate. That's between 10 and 50 extra customers, just for a morning's work.
Another option to consider is placing an advert in the local paper. Often there are freely distributed advertising papers, which will charge you a small listing fee, and other papers will allow you to list an advert for free. Even a small advertisement can prove to be successful however, and as most local papers reach tens of thousands of potential customers. A good advert can easily reap a massive response. Ideally, such an advert should be placed every week for several weeks. The small regular advert which people see often and recognise can often prove far more effective than a one off larger one.
In some cases, you may find that the service you offer through your website might complement an existing service or product provider. Perhaps you offer a computer repair service - and a store nearby is selling computers. Do they offer a repair service? If not, it would be advisable to have a chat with them, and work out an arrangement whereby both parties can benefit. They could provide details of your repair service to every customer who buys a computer - perhaps attaching a sticker with the details on to every computer sold.
This gives them the added benefit of being able to offer an after sales repair service at no cost to them, and creates an offline advertising medium for you. This is of course one specific example, but with a little imagination there are often ways in which your business can be tailored to offer a solution to an existing store or facility. Providing a stack of leaflets of business cards to these stores for them to distribute to customers can prove to be highly successful.
Offline advertising simply requires a little bit of imagination and thought - and this is the single biggest reason why so many internet businesses don't do it. However, if you want your business to succeed and grow, then considering ways of promoting your business in the real world can often reward you with real new customers, and improved sales figures.
One of the reasons why many people don't consider offline advertising is that they can't think of any successful methods which can be used that don't cost an arm and a leg. Television adverts, radio and billboard adverts cost a fortune and it is generally only those businesses which are already huge that can afford to run such promotions.
However, with a little bit of imagination you can easily create a significant boost for your online business, at very little cost. It might take up some of your time, but for a day's work advertising your website, you could see yourself making significantly more money over the next few weeks and months. Everyone can do with a bit of a boost at the moment and a successful offline advertising campaign could be exactly what your website business needs.
The exact nature of the offline promotion you undertake will depend largely on the amount of money you have to spend, as well as the amount of time you have available. The quickest and cheapest option is to print off a few thousand flyers and distribute these. If you create a flyer on the computer, make sure it looks smart and professional, grabs attention, and makes a good point, as well as providing the necessary contact information.
Don't limit yourself to just the website address - some people might be interested but not have access to a computer, so including a phone number can be helpful. If you don't want to give out your home number, why not pick up a cheap cell phone and use that?
As far as distributing these flyers is concerned, why not visit the local parking facility at the nearest shopping mall or superstore? Tucking these flyers under the windscreen wipers of a few hundred cars won't take long. Admittedly, you know the success rate won't be high, but you aren't trying to attract everyone - just enough to make a difference. Let's say that there are 1,000 cars parked that day in a number of car parks - what sort of return would you like?
Being honest, one return is likely to be a customer you wouldn't have had previously, and it may well prove to be a returning customer in the future, or someone who promotes your business for you through word of mouth. However, in reality you could find yourself with between a 1%-5% success rate. That's between 10 and 50 extra customers, just for a morning's work.
Another option to consider is placing an advert in the local paper. Often there are freely distributed advertising papers, which will charge you a small listing fee, and other papers will allow you to list an advert for free. Even a small advertisement can prove to be successful however, and as most local papers reach tens of thousands of potential customers. A good advert can easily reap a massive response. Ideally, such an advert should be placed every week for several weeks. The small regular advert which people see often and recognise can often prove far more effective than a one off larger one.
In some cases, you may find that the service you offer through your website might complement an existing service or product provider. Perhaps you offer a computer repair service - and a store nearby is selling computers. Do they offer a repair service? If not, it would be advisable to have a chat with them, and work out an arrangement whereby both parties can benefit. They could provide details of your repair service to every customer who buys a computer - perhaps attaching a sticker with the details on to every computer sold.
This gives them the added benefit of being able to offer an after sales repair service at no cost to them, and creates an offline advertising medium for you. This is of course one specific example, but with a little imagination there are often ways in which your business can be tailored to offer a solution to an existing store or facility. Providing a stack of leaflets of business cards to these stores for them to distribute to customers can prove to be highly successful.
Offline advertising simply requires a little bit of imagination and thought - and this is the single biggest reason why so many internet businesses don't do it. However, if you want your business to succeed and grow, then considering ways of promoting your business in the real world can often reward you with real new customers, and improved sales figures.