If you're pretty new to online business and just starting one right now, you may want to consider advertise your business offline first. There're many ways to pull successful results from offline advertising methods, and I'll list 8 of the most successful offline advertising method that brings results.
1. The old-school method - make flyers. Make sure your design are property done by professional or fresh graduated college student who has high sense in arts. Carry some in your car, while you're out driving, leave at bus stops, rest areas, laundry mats, grocery stores and a lot more places you can go.
2. Stamp your dollar bills. Customize a rubber stamp with your website URL and start stamping each dollar notes to spend them away. Just imagine about all the times you've gotten a dollar bill and someone wrote on it, didn't you read it? Don't worry it's legal, at least in my country and in the United States.
3 Advertise in your local newspaper classified columns. This is like writing an online sale letter, only it limited to a few words so you better come out with a killer headline that draw readers attention to your website.
4. One clever idea is to use your business cards. You can use your own existing business cards if you already have a few packs, but I highly recommend you to re-design a whole new look just to promote your online business. One tip that you can design your own business cards is using your own computer with a business card designing software or just use the Photoshop.
Another way you could use your business card to promote your website is: go to your local library and insert your business cards in all the books that are related to your online business. You might think this is illegal but it not wrong with using a business card for a bookmark.
5. I had very good success with using flyers with tear off strips that have your website URL on every strip, I post them at all public bulletin boards in my town and have a few of my friends sick them up colleges' bulletin boards.
6. Have you heard of 'Hot Pocket' marketing? Just get 3x3 poly bags with a peel and stick back, printed "Take One" on the front. Print out 8 little flyer on 8x11 paper using a bright yellow paper (fluorescent) so it POPS out, cut them out, then slip them into the pockets. As you go through your day, stick them up them at everywhere, such as at the ATM, pay phones at bars, gas pumps station, newspaper stand at the coffee shop (Starbucks), bus stops and even on the back of bathroom stall doors (Think about this, something to read while sitting there! LOL).
The poly bags are cheap, it's a pack of a thousand bags for 20 bucks. Each bag holds 10 flyers. You can buy poly bags by search in Ebay online or just search the term 'poly bag' in google.
7. If you can have some cash to spare, advertise your website on the movie space. You know advertisements that appear before the movie is screened. You may have to hire professional art designers in websites to make you a splash screen. There's another catch for this advertising method, use an easy-to-remember and short domain name for your website. After all, people will only write it down if your URL is catchy and easy to remember then they might go home and check it out.
Also, some theatres even have an advertising option where you can put your coupon or ad on the ticket stub. You might want to use this as well.
8. Another interesting method you can use: get an 800 numbers at http://tollfree.kall8.com/7556.htm It's $2 to sign up & $2 a month plus 6.9 cents a minute. Then set up your message on the 800 number (like a busy Office). When they leave a message it is delivered via email in a wave file. This gives you the opportunity to speak with them. By getting an 800 number your personal numbers not all over the streets. Put the 800 number on the flyer next to your web address. Some people like to talk to a human to feel a little more secure about my services.
Copyright (c) Edwin Lim
About the author:
Edwin Lim is a freelance copywriter living in Malaysia. For more article writing and marketing insights, visit his Website at http://www.webblogerz.com.
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