Fed Up with all the Bull on the Internet? 30+ Ways to Market your Business Offline
I started my own business and like thousands of others looked on Google, Bing, Pinterest, Instagram, and any place else I could find for tips and hints about being successful at marketing my own little empire!
I didn't want thousands of leads or how to earn 6 and 7 figures in my first year of trading..I just wanted to know that I was doing what I was supposed to be doing and doing it properly!
Yet every time I clicked on a post or tips I thought would be interesting or helpful to me, I would get loads of information about the writer, very little assistance in what I was looking for and ultimately ( 9 times out of 10 ) prompted to buy an ebook , a course or attend a webinar. Arrgghhh!
So apart from the usual stuff that you can do online, are you marketing your product offline as well?
You need to get your product and your service in front of as many people as you can and Gaining customers local to you is a great place to start.
below is 25 ways that may help you do that. Whilst some of them will cost you money, others are completely free or can be done using the materials you have at hand already.
Do one or do them all. Pick out ones that you feel would be suitable for you to implement and stick to them. Try to do at least 5 every day.
Once you have the contacts then you use your online presence to keep them interested, loyal and hopefully lead to sales and sponsorships
Each of these ideas can be adapted to suit any kind of business. The secret is be Creative!
1. Take a small zip close bag (snack sizes work well) and include the following in it: Your Business Card, Business Opportunity Mini Flyer, a Piece of Candy such as hard candy or a lollipop, Mini flyer of current host specials, discount coupon (optional) etc. Hand these out to the bank tellers, retail cashiers, at your kids sport events, every where you go!
2. When I stay at hotels & motels I leave a Product Sheet or Flyer, my business card & discount coupon alongside a tip for the maid! Do you have a product you could use to put this all in? I have gotten 3 orders by doing this! Be creative when you leave tips for Hotel Maids, Waitresses, Waiters, Hair Dressers, etc. Don't just hand them your business card, make it memorable! You can also buy cute little beaded change purses or fancy containers at your local discount store or online from China!
3. Print out flyers with your contact info (not your personal address), your website address & email address along with any current specials you are offering. Then contact local area Caravan park offices, apartment rental offices, housing developments etc and ask them if you can leave fliers in their office or hang on their tenants doors.
Give the office employees a free gift or discount on their personal orders.
4. Contact local area Bridal Supply stores, Bridal Gown stores, Caterers, Kilt Hire / Tux Hire Shops, Wedding DJ's etc. Ask them if you can leave your business cards & fliers about the great (Company Name) Bridal Gift Registry for them to give to their customers. Offer store owners a free gift or a personal discount for helping you spread the word about your business.
5. Daycare Centres/ Nurseries! They are excellent to contact and leave business cards and/or fliers at! I print out a flyer of just a few items from our Children's line and I attach my business card & a discount coupon. I get a lot of orders by doing this! So whatever company you represent, find some items that cater to children or to mums and make up a flier!
6. A lot of churches hold a Spring / Summer / Christmas Fair! Contact them about getting a table or a stand. A lot of times this will cost you under £15.00 for a space! Make sure you take products with you along with business opportunity fliers, plenty of catalogues, business cards etc. Do a contest drawing at these types of events. Make up entry blanks that gather the customers info so that you can initiate contact with them again!
7. Join your local area chamber of commerce! They are always holding local business events that you can participate in.
8. College Campuses! Dorms & Housing Students are always looking to spend money! A lot of college students are also looking for an extra income so target them with the Business Opportunity too! Drop off fliers and business cards to the College Student Centre! They usually have bulletin boards, tables and other things where you can leave your information at for FREE!
9. Contact your local area Welcome to the Neighbourhood Group! Ask them about you leaving mini catalogues, fliers, business cards, discount coupons, freebie mini gifts, etc with them. They are always looking for additional items to place in their Welcome Bags!
10. Contact your local area hospitals and ask for Human Resources Dept. The Majority of hospitals hand out New Mummy Diaper Bags filled with products, samples and other stuff for New Mums who just had a baby! It's FREE for you to add in your information! I have gotten party hosts, new customers and new recruits by participating in these types of programs.
11. Contact your local medical offices, particularly Gynaecology and OB Offices and Paediatric Offices and inquire about you leaving information with them. This is a way for you to target Parents of Children with both the home party opportunity, the business opportunity and new customer sales.
12. Donate a Product to your local area Radio Station, they have numerous contests and they are always looking for sponsors! Your donation can be written off as a tax deduction plus you will get FREE Advertising & Business Exposure for your donation!
13. Donate a Product to your local area Bingo Halls! They are always looking for sponsors of their Bingo Prizes! Bingo is BIG in a lot of areas!
14. Call your Chamber of Commerce and find out about Local Area Job Fairs. Get a booth and set up info about the fabulous business opportunity!
15. Call your Local Area Colleges and find out when their next job/employment fair is. A lot of times you can get a booth or table for less than £35 and you will get a lot of GREAT new recruit leads by participating in events like these.
16. Contact local area car dealerships. I have 2 in my local area that hand out a small packet that I made up for FREE to their customers who come in to take a free test drive!
17. Target your local area gyms! You can get a table space for $20 or less in most cases! Make sure you have 3-5 products on display, plenty of catalogues, business cards and fliers.
18. Network with others in your community who are in home business. Find out what events and activities that they participate in. They are usually "in the know" and can help you get started in networking in your community.
19. Contact Companies in your area to see if you can come in and set up a table in the employee lounge or cafeteria for a employee shopping break! These days a lot of companies will allow you to do this if you ask them!
20. Does your local area TV cable company have a local information channel? Inquire about advertising! These ads will reach thousands of potential buyers for you! I recommend you only use your website address for these types of advertising and not your personal home address.
21. Contact local small companies and shops to see if you can offer an exclusive discounts or freebie gift to their employees. Companies are always looking for a way to "treat" their employees to specials from the local surrounding community.
22. Small Town Newspapers! I don't get too good of a response when I do big newspaper city ads, however... when I target small town newspapers I usually get a great response. I even had them let me place an ad on their wedding and engagement announcements page which I advertised the Bridal Gift Registry.
So if you are going to do any type of newspaper advertising, inquire about getting your ads on specific pages in the newspaper that targets the group of people most likely to buy from you.
23. Get a low cost outdoor banner printed up with your business information on it. You can usually get them done for £55 or less depending on who makes it. You can have these outdoor banners displayed at outdoor music/concert events, outdoor children's sporting events, outdoor adult sport events, outdoor community events, carnivals, fairs, etc.
24. Take your business on the road during nice weather. Contact local area parks & community centres to see what their schedule of events are and inquire about setting up a booth or table. This is a great way to network & market your business to those in your community.
25. Contact small local area businesses such as hair salons, massage parlours, boutiques, banks etc. See if you can set up a table for 1 week with 3 of your best selling products on it along with some catalogues, fliers, coupons and your business card. Keep a basket on the table for any customer orders which you can follow up on after you return back to pick up your display. Offer the store owner or manager a free gift for allowing you to do this.
You can also offer to donate a prize for a contest if they let you display the prize donated & get a copy of the contestants entry blanks after the promotion closes.
26. Contact local area pizza shops, diners, deli's and coffee shops to ask them about advertising on their paper place mats! Customers do read those ads!
27. Contact local area restaurants, bars and clubs and see about advertising on their beverage coasters!
28. Attend Local Area holiday shopping events. Customers who are ready to spend holiday shopping money turn out for these events by the thousands! You can usually get a booth for less than $50.00 so they are economical to participate in!
29. Hold a local area community Party at your home or local community centre! Families are always looking for something to do during the nice weather seasons!
Could you team up with other vendors and put on a fair / fete?
30. Get your business information printed up on pencils and hand them out to local colleges and technical schools for them to hand out to their adult students! This keeps your business information in front of them! (make sure you only donate them to schools with adult students).
31. Get a vehicle banner made for your car. I recommend the vinyl window clings or vinyl cling ones that stick to your car and don't scratch or remove the paint. You can easily remove them when washing your vehicle!
32. If your city has a travel guide that tourists request, contact that business and find out how you can advertise in it too!
33. Local City Maps! These days even city maps have advertising on them! You can usually get a small business ad printed on them for an economical price. Don't advertise your personal location. If you don't have a business location then advertise your website address or email address.
34. Contact local area hotels, motels and bed & breakfast inns and ask them if you can do up a Lobby Basket and leave it in their Lobby. What is a Lobby Basket? You make up little packs of info about your business & products and put them into the Lobby Basket for their patrons to take. They usually have a leaflet wall or area too with pamphlets from local area attractions etc. If they don't have a lobby basket area, inquire about leaving your business info in their pamphlet area.
I hope that some of these ideas have inspired you. I have another 100 or so ideas that you could also try to implement in some shape or form. If you would like instant access to this, please leave me feedback and Comment with your company tagline. I will contact you to forward the other 100 tips to you.
No Bull!
It would also be great if you could share these tips with anyone you feel would benefit from them
Thanks
Jackie xx
