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A Dirty Little Offline Marketing Secret

by Bayo
7 replies
Offline Marketing is the rage at the moment and its not going anywhere soon, but there's a lot of people miss (maybe you included) that they need to be aware of in order to succeed in this young niche

When You're Involved In Offline Marketing You're Involved In
2 Businesses

Marketing and Delivery

Marketing and Delivery are the two businesses you're involved in.

I see so many people focus on the 'delivery' aspects e.g. How to sell and setup an auto-responder service for $250, How to setup a website for $5k, How to [fill in the blank!]. While all these are all OK your efforts really need to be on your marketing.

Marketing is what brings you business and profits - NOT delivery.

There will be some people that will disagree with me strongly on this and that's OK. I decided to write this post in response to numerous questions on the ,matter that I have been receiving.

Personally, the bulk of my profits in Offline Marketing have not come from being a 'delivery technician'. The bulk of my profits have come from focused, thought-through and implemented marketing efforts.

Leverage

To really give yourself a chance of running a profitable Offline Marketing business you need a paradigm shift. Send thoughts of a 'casual stroll into a local business and asking "how's business?"' - That approach works on one level but I guarantee you it's not the level that's going to make you rich.

In effect you're a door-to-door salesperson and that stinks!

Solution? You have to be able to market '1-to-many' as opposed to 1 to 1. It's leveraging yourself to reach more people than you could do on a 1- to-1 individual basis and is the path to faster profits.

That's why those that know me know I'm fanatical about lead-generation and education-based marketing.

A Definition of Offline Marketing

One of my definitions of Offline Marketing is "...solving offline business problems profitably". You can't do that if you spend your time in delivery mode.

If you're going to reach your income goals you cannot trade your time for money.

Delivery = Time

Doing that in Offline Marketing is basically swapping one J.O.B for another that may appear sexier...Not good.

Conclusion

If you really want to make Offline Marketing your cash-cow this year and beyond, you should start to focus more of your time on marketing and leveraging your abilities, tools, relationships, products and services.

It's a lot easier than it sounds and the payoff is much better in the end.

An immediate reward is that you'll experience less frustration and become profitable in a shorter time-frame than you could ever imagine.
#dirty #marketing #offline #secret
  • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
    Thanks for your thoughts, and I can see why you would say that, but being in this business myself I've found that it's the opposite way around.

    I find it VERY easy to find businesses that need help - that biggest factor in making good money from this is in the quality and organisation of your ability to deliver on the promises you make them.

    This is not a new niche - it's older than the Internet, the Internet just added some extra marketing elements into the mix.

    Many people get into IM and get fed the message that "now that you've been told about IM you're more knowledgeable than 95% of business owners" so they mistakenly think that this means the same thing as having a valuable proposition for those businesses.

    In reality, reading an ebook on brain surgery doesn't make you a brain surgeon - and reading an ebook on marketing doesn't make you a marketing guru.

    When it comes to dealing with offline businesses they expect a level of professionalism and business sense that many IMers just don't have. Not that you can't learn these things, but many IMers come into IM looking for a lottery ticket and simply don't have any real business experience in the offline world and are just not ready to offer a substantial value to an offline business.

    There's a massive difference between knowing how to throw up a Squidoo lense, a twitter account, some blogs and run a few articles and press releases through sharing sites.

    And crazily - although some people have never made themselves a penny online, they still think they're qualified to charge businesses for their knowledge of 'how to help them make more money using the internet'.

    Finding businesses in need is MUCH less of a problem than having a serious proposition for how to help them.

    Andy
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    nothing to see here.

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    • Profile picture of the author AndrewCavanagh
      Just to confound the issue even futher...

      It could be either.

      The real issue is where you are when you're starting out doing this.

      Some people need to talk to business owners just to get the experience of talking to business owners.

      Some people need to get familiar with the mechanics of internet marketing (even if they intend to outsource it) so they can understand how to help a business.

      Some people already know a stack of business owners (they may have been in business themselves) and they can start simply by talking to the business owners they know.

      And some people have a ton of experience already and would be better off just using a powerful lead generation like the Amazing 4 Line Letter to get business owners calling them because they have plenty of experience both in internet marketing and in talking to business owners.

      I think what a lot of people miss is that everybody comes into this niche of providing internet marketing services to offline businesses in different places with different experience, different background and different skills.

      And there's a place for everyone.

      But the starting point for everyone will be different depending on what your unique make up of skills and experience is.



      I do agree that there are two main areas...finding paying clients and getting hired...

      And helping the clients who hire you make more sales and profits.

      And you'll generally do a whole lot better if you understand that the first is more important if you want to be profitable...kind of.

      But even that is a complex issue because a consultant who's especially good at making his clients real profits can get hired over and over by the same client for increasing fees.

      So there's an overlap between the two areas...some of your best "new" clients will be clients who've already hired you in the past.


      I think there's only one thing you really need to know in this niche.

      There's a serious amount of money to be made and if you take some kind of action now (hopefully something that matches your skill and experience level) then you'll probably start making some of that money sooner rather than later.

      Kindest regards,
      Andrew Cavanagh
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      Old School Copy Like This Is BACK & Converting Like Crazy!
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  • Profile picture of the author Bayo
    I'll beg to differ (Andy)

    Marketing is where the bulk of effort needs to be because, as you probably are aware, you can outsource everything you do. Marketing builds the relationships and people buy from people they like.

    You may be one of the people that has no problem attracting and getting clients but from the surveys and research I've carried out with people from both internet marketing and non IM backgrounds it's approaching and getting the project that is where a lot of people feel out of their comfort zone.

    I do agree with your comment that "Many people get into IM and get fed the message that "now that you've been told about IM you're more knowledgeable than 95% of business owners" so they mistakenly think that this means the same thing as having a valuable proposition for those businesses."

    While IM and OM are similar in many respects, the two are different in many areas of approach and execution.

    Oh, and before I forget, describing it as a new niche I mean in terms of local small offline businesses using the internet to attract customers and increase their profits...That is new.

    The internet hasn't been around that long!
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    • Profile picture of the author Andyhenry
      Originally Posted by Bayo View Post

      I'll beg to differ (Andy)

      Marketing is where the bulk of effort needs to be because, as you probably are aware, you can outsource everything you do. Marketing builds the relationships and people buy from people they like.

      You may be one of the people that has no problem attracting and getting clients but from the surveys and research I've carried out with people from both internet marketing and non IM backgrounds it's approaching and getting the project that is where a lot of people feel out of their comfort zone.
      Hey it's ok - we're adults, we're allowed to disagree and discuss these things.

      I'll reiterate my point then since we're still seeing it different.

      MY experience and research in this area has shown me that:

      1 - ANYONE can quickly get business just by having a decent proposition and using local business directories and physical visits to get new business.

      In some geographic areas this is easier than others - if you live in a busy city with a lot of businesses, it's easier than if you live in a quiet area.

      2 - The people that I've found which do fit into your model are people that have no business trying to sell anything to offline businesses because they have zero experience of making money using online marketing techniques that will apply to these offline businesses.

      There's a BIG difference between doing stuff that sounds clever to an offline business owner who doesn't know better -and actually getting real results an increasing their business.

      Most people that 'have trouble' getting business in this niche of marketing to offline businesses - only have trouble because they don't know what they're doing or don't have any confidence that they can actually meet the expectations they want to set.

      If you're not comfortable approaching businesses with a sound proposition of how to help them - that should raise questions about whether you should be doing it.

      I know it's fashionable to go on about this 'offline' thing like it's some kind of cashcow, and in reality it is easy to make money doing it - but if someone can't make money online for themself - they have no business taking other peoples money with promises that they can do it for them.


      Maybe that sounds harsh, but this stuff is not difficult to do properly and I am not an advocate of the 'Do Something - Anything' school of thought that would have people out there bullshitting innocent business owners into parting with their hard-earned money just to have some IM newbie who has zero understanding of their business do some lame IM stuff that never worked for them either.

      If you approach this like a business and develop a professional offering - it's EASY to get the business and build a significant income from it. So I don't see that cutting corners is a better way.

      Andy
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  • Profile picture of the author Kyle Tully
    Like Dan Kennedy says...

    You've got to think of yourself as the marketer of the thing, not the doer of the thing.

    The technical stuff, that's easy and can be cheaply outsourced.

    Marketing is where the real money is.
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  • Profile picture of the author Bayo
    Andy

    I think we're slightly off the main point and I can see why.

    The main point of the post is this..

    Focus on your marketing because you can have the best products and services but if no one knows you exist or no one is buying, then you're not going to be profitable.

    Most IMers are comfortable operating behind the PC screen selling product via article marketing and other IM methods to other internet marketers etc - It's a lot easier because you don't have to actually see or necessarily interact with anyone.

    Offline is different.

    Offline, one of the most powerful tools in consulting toolbox is your ability to build those valuable 'in-person' relationships and liking. That's something I know for a fact a lot of people who want to take advantage of this niche are simply not comfortable with but it's something I'm advocating people spend time learning.

    A "NO" over the internet is different to a "NO" in your face and in-person. I had been in consultng since 1995 but I still remember what my very first "NO" was like when I started trying to offer IM services to local business owners. With more than 10 years of professional consulting firm experience under my belt I still felt like c**p when I got "NO can do".

    Did I know how to build a website? Yes. Autresponders? Yes. Writing high-quality content? Yes. The fact is marketing in this space was and is different.

    So personally, I wouldn't go as far as saying anyone who can't hack it should think of something else to do. That's not my place or position. There's some learning to do for some people and I am also one of them because I believe in life-long learning.

    The fact that some folks find selling easy doesn't mean everybody does - It also doesn't mean selling is particularly hard. There's a old saying that "What you see depends on where you stand"

    In conclusion, you have some good points in there and also some, that over a beer, I would strongly disagree with. However, I hope the main point I am making hasn't become obscured.

    I porbably should have made it clear that the message is advice and encouragement for anyone particularly struggling with 'making it happen'.

    Remember to focus enough energy and effort on your marketing and building valuable relationships because that's what will keep your funnel full as you develop your consulting business.

    You can outsource a ton of the other delivery aspects.

    You're in business. Be a business person and not a technician.
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