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Home::ECommerce
Top 10 Ways to Market Your Website Offline
Author : Donna Gunter
Copyright 2006 Donna Gunter
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. You can view my email signature
here: http://www.onlinebizcoachingcompany.com/emailsig.htm
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!
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