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It is a well-known fact that the most challenging aspect of building an online business is the business of attracting online traffic to your website. This can often mean the difference between success and failure. Don't fall into the track of thinking you can only solve your online traffic problems by staying online. Website promotion is more than just submitting to search engines, directories, exchanging links and submitting articles to databases.
Pay-per-click advertising may not be the panacea it is made out to be! Here is a simple little fact you should never forget: most people spend their time off-line. They drive down the street and see posters and billboards. They read newspapers and magazines. They watch TV for about four hours a day on average and listen to the radio. They chat to their friends, neighbours and families. They may have access to the internet but they don't spend their lives surfing. What this translates to is that by ignoring the potential of off-line marketing you are throwing away profits that could readily be yours! As a smart online marketer you should make off-line marketing tactics as part of your strategy and part of your advertising mix.
Here are some low-cost ways to change your mindset and start benefiting from off-line promotion of you online business.
1. Inform your local newspapers that you have a unique
product/service that will meet needs in your local community, helping them to save time, improve their health, whatever your product offers. This might lead to an interview on with a reporter. This will create buzz and might have a regional or national ripple effect and spread to other media such as TV and radio. It will certainly create an awareness of your domain name or product in the public mind.
2. Try to find another business that has products that dovetail with yours and offer them a discount voucher to give to their customers for your product.
3. Take out small ads in local papers or niche magazines advertising your business. Rest assured that these can be quite affordable compared to an ad in a leading ezine.
4. Distribute flyers with information about a special offer and find stores that will be willing to leave them in a prominent place in the store for prospective clients to pick up.
5. Send a fax/email broadcast to businesses and individuals that could benefit from your service or product.
6. Send out at least one professionally written press release to the local media. This could include a product for review. It would help to have a celebrity endorse your product. Set some time aside each week to explore other inexpensive off-line marketing methods and then implement them. Online success is sure to follow!
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