First Lesson – Market Your Online Business Offline

Welcome to the first lesson in the Market Your Online Business Offline Crash Course. Over the next few days, you will receive several lessons that will help you learn how to get more exposure for your products and services by marketing your online business using offline marketing techniques.

In this first lesson, we are going to talk a little about the differences between online and offline advertising.

Fact: Everywhere you look the Internet has touched our lives. From things as simple as staying connected with friends, shopping for great deals or running a business, computers are a part of our everyday lives.

Running a business online is a fantastic way to make a living because you’re not limited to your own local area, you have literally the whole world to market your product and services.

Even if you have the best website, with a fantastic product that could change the lives of millions, the bottom line is that people won’t be able to find your site and buy from you unless you are actively driving traffic to it.

As an online business owner, it’s up to you to do everything possible to increase your chances of success and the means promoting your business using multiple methods. In the past offline marketing was the only way to advertise your business and while online marketing can bring in a lot of attention, offline marketing methods are an important part of building a sustainable business that will stand the test of time.

Some online business owners think that offline marketing is the old school way of doing business and they dismiss it, when in fact it is still an extremely viable way of creating buzz for your business and shouldn’t be ignored.

Some of the more traditional advertising methods like placing ads through print, television and radio are extremely effective because they reach a large audience of people who might not have access to or like to use the internet. Yes, they do still exist and by not using offline-marketing methods, you are missing all of those potential customers, not to mention the profits.

Now let’s briefly go over few of the more traditional types of offline marketing you can use for your business.

– Newspapers and magazines

Local newspapers are good for advertising your online business. Most local papers have a home business opportunities section, so it is cost effective and fairly easy to run a regular classified ad. In addition, contact your local newspaper or business-oriented magazine and let the business editor know you have a new business and web site and what you offer. Local newspapers are frequently interested in featuring local business people and their accomplishments. This is free advertising and should always be used. You can also contact your local magazine and offer to write a monthly or weekly guest column for them, and include your author bio and website URL.

– Mailing out print newsletters and flyers

Mailing out a print newsletter or flyer is still very effective. Especially, if you target a specific ‘group’ of recipient’s, like current customers or people interested in what you have to offer. In your newsletter or flyer be sure to offer something of value to consumers like a discount or online coupon code. For this type of advertising to work you have to create content that captures the attention of your recipients immediately or else your mailing will end up in the trash.

We have a lot to go over in the next few days if you want to learn how to market your online business offline, so make sure you look for your next lesson soon. We will be talking about some different resources available to help you that will help increase your understanding of offline marketing.

2 – Market Your Online Business Offline

It’s time for your second lesson in the Market Your Online Business Offline. I hope you found lesson one informative. In this lesson are going to go over some of the different resources available to help increase your understanding of offline marketing.

Do you know why major corporations still use offline marketing? It’s because it works!

Offline marketing strategies have been the backbone of many businesses for decades and they can do the same for your online business when used effectively.

When it comes to marketing your online business with offline marketing techniques it isn’t necessary to become familiar with all of the different types of offline marketing strategies in order use it to your advantage and get more leads for your online business. You just need to determine which methods will work best for your business.

When trying to figure out how best to implement offline marketing it’s important to do your research. A good place to start is the Internet of course, but there are also a wide variety of books and magazines available on the topic.

Seeking out other online business owners that are already using offline marketing techniques is a good idea. Look at your local newspaper, magazine and direct mail pieces to find people who are running campaigns similar to what you are planning to do and study their tactics.

If you need more of a hands on approach attending seminars are a great option. Once there, you can get advice and tips from people who have real experience with offline marketing. You can communicate with like-minded individuals who can answer any questions you may have about the process.

Keep in mind that you can’t just go to a seminar or two and expect to be an expert on the topic. It will take some time. However, by connecting with others who are having success using offline marketing you can pick up a few tips and tricks that you can apply to your own business.

Even though there are entirely different schools of thought between offline and online marketing, it might shock you to find offline marketing resources online. There are plenty of websites out there that are chock full of relevant information. You can get help from other people wanting the same thing in online forums.

There are even downloadable ebooks that can give you plenty of offline marketing tips that you can use for your business. Sometimes you don’t even have to pay for this advice because many ebooks are often free of charge, making them quite a bargain for free advice. Just download, read and learn right from your computer.

Offline marketing can be a bit challenging, especially for Internet business owners, but as I mentioned in your last lesson it shouldn’t be ignore and since there are so many offline marketing resources available, there’s no reason not to give these methods a try.

3 – Third Lesson – Market Your Online Business Offline

Offline marketing strategies are being used by big online brands like Amazon, eBay and many others, in order to reach out to a wider audience. Amazon currently has TV and radio commercials and eBay is turning to these methods as well. Offline marketing is experiencing a resurgence of sorts, since a larger number of Internet businesses are turning to it as an effective addition to their online campaigns.

Just like using online methods, when it comes to using offline-marketing strategies it’s important to know your target audience, what they are shopping for and how they prefer to make their purchases. You can experience great success with your offline marketing, provided you take the time to get to know your audience and how to talk to them.

To get started, try looking at your business from an offline consumer’s point of view!

Find out what kind of products they like, where they like to shop and their basic spending habits. Looking at your website stats and sales along with some basic market research can provide you the with valuable information about your what your current customers are buying and what your website visitors are interested in as well as some insight into which products you should focus on for your offline promotions.

Once you know the likes and dislikes of your audience, you can start planning. First, you should pick the type of campaign you think will benefit your business the most. Make sure you know everything about the type of ad you plan to use, including all the important points you want to convey to consumers.

Don’t put anything in the ad that doesn’t represent your product or service effectively. Also, be sure to use a solid call to action so that consumers know exactly how to find your product or service, make a purchase or contact you. Just like online advertising, it is vitally important to grab the attention of your audience right away.

Once you get your strategy in place and design done, your offline ad can be placed. To ensure the success of your offline campaign make sure that you get your ads in front of the right target audience. In the beginning, it is a good idea to start small. Most advertisers offer short runs or small ad blocks of ad space. Be sure to ask them if they have special offers for first time customer and if they offer any type of guarantee or return on your investment.

Testing and tracking the response to your ad is also very important. You should have your own tracking methods in place to help gauge the effectiveness of your campaign. The advertiser should also offer some sort of tracking to be sure you are getting exactly what you paid for.

The advertiser should be able to help you with placement, targeting and to answer any questions you have about how the ad will perform. If they can’t it’s a good idea to look for one that can.

4 – Fourth Lesson – Market Your Online Business Offline

We are winding down to the end of this short course. However, we still need to go over a few things so that you can start using offline marketing to market your online business. Today we are going to jump right in and go over the importance of staying focused so you can avoid losing money with your offline marketing campaign.

As an online business owner I am sure that you spend a lot of time, effort, and money testing and tweaking your online marketing campaign so that your business products and services can get as much exposure as possible.

Unfortunately, when it comes to offline marketing many online business owners miss the mark and end up losing more money from their campaigns than they make. There is nothing worse than wasting money on ad space that doesn’t yield any return on your investment.

If you don’t want this to happen, it’s important to plan carefully when it comes to developing an offline strategy. Make sure you take your audience, budget and the message you want to convey into consideration before you begin spending your money.

Let me ask you:

Have you ever jumped in your car, only to find that a flyer or brochure has be tucked under your vehicle’s windshield wiper?

Have you ever heard or seen an ad that crammed in so much information that it was hard to understand what it was offering?

Have you ever been approached by a salesperson who began delivering his sales pitch before you even had a chance to look at the merchandise?

These types of techniques didn’t make you want to spend your money, did they?

Fact: The reputation of your business relies heavily on your marketing strategy, so it’s important to plan accordingly. Mistakes in a marketing campaign happen and they can lead to disappointment and financial loss when you don’t have a solid plan in place.

Keeping this goal in mind, let’s take a look at three important points to remember when developing an offline marketing strategy for your business:

Remember; always stay focused on the customer when developing a marketing strategy for your product or service. Researching and understanding your audience should play an important role in your campaign. This is where many online business owners miss the mark. While your target audience may be the same online and offline, reaching them effectively is completely different.

As we discussed in your last lesson it is important to know what kind of products and services your consumers are interested in, where they like to shop and their basic spending habits. When it comes to offline marketing, you also have to know what type of publications they read, what TV channels they watch and what radio stations they listen to, so you can determine the most effective way to reach them.

5 – Fifth Lesson – Market Your Online Business Offline

Today we are going to talk about using online and offline marketing together to increase your chances of success.

With all the new advances in technology over the last decade or two, businesses really have to focus on making a name for themselves and as an online business owner you know this can done very quickly on the Internet. However, by incorporating offline marketing methods in conjunction with your online marketing strategies you can increase your results even more.

Getting your product or service noticed by as many consumers as possible is incredibly important, especially since our world is moving so fast that people are constantly bombarded with new products to pick from every day. To be successful you have to stand out from the crowd and use every marketing method you can to your advantage.

When it comes to actively promoting your business, it’s important to saturate as much of the market as you can. To do this you should definitely use a combination of online and offline marketing techniques in your campaign.

As we have discussed, there are many ways you can advertise your business using online and offline marketing. These methods can be very effective on their own but when you use them together, they can help you reach a wider audience and get much better results.

Now that we have the Internet, people can see your ads and find information about your business any time, any place. Especially with the resent social media explosion. Now massive social networks like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest offer great advertising opportunities when used properly.

These sites are extremely popular and they can give you a big advantage over your competition because they offer almost immediate exposure and the opportunity to connect with consumers in a completely new way. Nevertheless, you should keep in mind that while online marketing is truly amazing, there are still areas that offline marketing can reach that online marketing cannot.

With that said, I want to go over a few more techniques that you can use to expand both your online and offline campaigns.

First, let’s talk about word of mouth. It is still one of the best free advertising opportunities available. We all have people we interact with on a daily basis, and these are potential customers. Make a list of all the people you know or interact with and how can you best tell them about your internet business. Be passionate about your internet business and always be prepared to tell someone about it when an opportunity to do so presents itself!

Next, you can promote your business by giving away free stuff. For instance, you should have your URL printed on your business cards, stationery and other items that you can give away. This technique will never go out of style and it is a great way to remind people about your online business, because every time they use the item they will think of you.

Lastly, look for strategic partners and work out a joint venture. This works just as well with offline businesses as it does online. For instance, find a business that sells a complementary product or service to your online business and offer to advertise their business from your website in exchange for them giving away your free promotional materials.

The bottom line is, if you want to get as much exposure for your online business as possible it’s important to use every marketing strategy available. All of the methods that we have discussed during this course work. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and promote your business offline! [/membership]