Offline Website Marketing and Promotion

Website marketing efforts that are done off-line can involve both active and passive marketing activities, and among the endless possibilities, many can be done effectively and economically either through personal contact or via some sort of print media.

Active Promotion through Personal Contact

For business to business marketing, many people recommend maintaining an active membership in local business related organizations like the local Chamber of Commerce, technical or trade groups, or one or more of the many networking groups that are being set up among business people on a local level.

Depending on the product or service, sometimes it can even be helpful to make personal contact with people in religious or social groups, and even possibly the workplace, to spread the word.

Also depending on the type of service or products, sometimes booths can be set up at local fairs or conventions, or contacts can be made simply by attending them, making an effort to become personally acquainted, and handing out flyers or business cards.

Promoting through Print Media

Advertising is often available in local newspapers for reasonable rates, as well as various publications put out by local groups and organizations.

Yellow pages advertising goes without saying. Including the URL in even a small ad gives an opportunity for potential customers (or visitors) to check out the website and find out considerably more about the company or organization than they otherwise could have, and could easily lead to a sale if the customer finds what they are looking for - particularly if most other vendors in the niche don't have websites, which is often the case on a local level.

Other Methods and Possibilities to Get the Word Out

Other promotion possibilities to consider for getting the URL out include:

• Direct mail
• Postcard campaigns
• Telemarketing (you can't really knock it 100%, it's used for selling IBM mainframe computers)
• Putting the URL on ads or bumper stickers on the car or truck
• Putting up yard signs
• Giving away promotional items
• Wearing t-shirts with the logo or slogan

and many, many more. Take notice next election - just about any way, other than knocking on doors or walking the malls, that's used in a political campaign has possibilities for promoting a site, as long as it's in good taste and the URL is included.

The possibilities are endless, and this is far from a complete list, but for most sites, it can be productive to think beyond the usual internet marketing channels and look for off-line possibilities as well as online for effective ways to promote a website.