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Promoting Your Home Based Internet
Business Offline
Copyright 2005 Chris Stirling
When it comes to promoting your Web site online, most home business
owners have marketed through banners, link exchanges, different search
engines, newsletters, forums, and the like. However, a good home based
business must also consider offline promotion strategies as well and how
to use them in order to generate more business. Remember, that simply because
your business is online does not mean you are restricted to simply advertising
online. There are millions of people that are not online enough to actually
see your advertisements and will respond better to other methods.
First of all, the most important tip for offline promotion strategies
of your web page is your URL. You want your URL to be easily remembered,
so it is important to be creative when creating your URL. Then, when you
have decided on the perfect, catchy URL, it is even more important to make
sure that it is distributed in the offline world. There are many ways to
do this. One, your URL should be on all stationary, invoices, and any communication
you send should be branded with your URL. This is important because the
more people see your URL the more likely they will be to remember it.
Many people create billboards that have a large URL and nothing else,
this creates curiosity in passersby who often times will go and check it
out just to ease their inquisitiveness. Also, large business magnets for
the side of company vehicles is a good idea because they can easily list
the web page address, any other information, and can easily be changed
if there is a change.
Also, on your web pages you should have a large banner of your web site
address. The reason for this is to target individuals who print out articles
or other information to read later. You want these people to know the address
of what they are reading so they can return. If you don’t make customers
work hard to find out your address and information, you are more likely
to have individuals return time and time again.
Television and radio are also options that can be used to promote your
web page offline. Many people are under the impression that advertising
on these mediums can be incredibly expensive, and while they can, they
can also be inexpensive. Talk to your local cable channels and local radio
stations to get the word out that way, especially if your service or product
is focused on a particular market. For instance, if your web page hosts
real estate listings in North Carolina, you will want to advertise on local
North Carolina channels and radio stations. Advertising this way significantly
reduces the price and gets the word out to many individuals.
Also, contact your local newspaper and let the business editor know
you have a new business and Web site and what you offer. Frequently, local
newspapers are interested in featuring local business people and their
accomplishments. This is free advertising and should always be employed.
When considering marketing your web site and offline promotion strategies,
be creative and constantly thinking of new ways you can get the word out.
Often times, the more creatively you advertise the more likely people will
check out your site just to see what it is. In this case, you will want
to make sure you have a great site that will keep visitors there and influence
them to buy
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