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!
