Offline Marketing - What Would You Do? What Should I Do?

Not sure what your skill set is, nor do I understand why it has to be offline marketing. But given that lack of information and the understanding that you are in a rural community I would put together a package of 3 different websites and sell them for cheap.

I gave this exact strategy to a friend of mine and he REALLY used it to get business.

1- page website $225
3- page website $375
5- page website $595 (include Google maps reg with this one, and also a keyword report after 120 days)

You can make a rather nice presentation using power point to create a sales page.

Show business owners the package, most will go for the 5 page website. Take all money up front because this is a very special deal - it really is cheap.

There are a LOT of business owners out there who will see you as a solution to something they have been putting off forever, and for no good reason.

When you get a sale, take charge by grabbing all their brochures, menus, product lists, photos, logos etc, and create their website using some templates, or outsource the project to elance. Basically - get it done, but get their approval at creative intervals.

Rural, small business owners will be thinking small, and you can use this to your advantage. Keep the sites simple, no flash or anything, and set them up an email account too with GMail so you can set them up a free contact form using wufoo.com

Now if you do all the work yourself, that is fine, but really you are not going to be making much on an hourly basis if you do not outsource. Thats up to you, but if you can sell, then spend your time selling. Think like a contractor.

The real money comes a few months down the road when you go back and show the business owner's their lame traffic counts and explain how you can solve that problem using the keyword data to date and some more research. Someone who is willing to advertise (traditional) will be willing to spend $500 per month for 3-6 months and let you start getting them traffic to their website.

Small steps. Get in the door, get them online, then let them know how they can improve. Real money.

The man thing is don't just stop at selling them a website.. a few months down the road offer them advanced SEO techniques which will sky rocket there success.

Mike,

What industry or field are you familiar with?
Roofers?
Dentists?
Carpenters?
Attorneys?

In other words, who's the easiest for you to talk to?

I would focus on them. I found using postcards really helped me get "IN".


~ JIM

Hello,
this is what many people have done to get the ball rolling for offline marketing:
you can make a web page directory for your home town and then sell advertising and make up web pages and coupons and special sales for the local merchants.

Offline marketing, just look for a niche and follow through with it. And follow your passion. If you enjoy what you do you will be successful.

I would start emailing all the businesses found in your local Google search results and offer them a free consultation. Even in a small town I'm sure you'll find websites that could use help. For every 100 emails and you'll generally get one or two interested prospects. Tell them the jist of what you can do in your 2nd email and offer to give them a call if they want to know more. Get their phone # and call them up!

That's what I've done...

Read this thread 5 times: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...huiWDQo1KC6cF8
pay special attention to post 946
Find a business that needs those items (or most of them)
You can usually tell just by how they answer the phone
implement the other strategies in the thread and you're in biz

I whole-heartedly agree with what Jacer posted, specifically the part about NOT simply offering websites only. In your small towns, I'm sure some have websites (probably nonperforming/zero seo/miserable ugly etc ones at that). SO at some point they at least thought being on the "interwebsnet" was a good thing. I've often found it way easier to build my own properties than working with their current sites most of the time too. Don't spend a lifetime trying to revive something if it there's no hope! Also, Wordpress is your friend!

I'd recommend the "lead generation" angle most of the time as well too. Go for organic listing domination (should honesly be quick in smaller areas). There's probably no need for PPC if there's not much competition and if you can rank quick organically with ease. Which means visible results for your client and new business (hopefully).

Go for the high-transaction-value businesses if at possible too. Small businesses in rural towns can be a VERY tough sell in a lot of ways, but a lead is worth more to a real estate agent or an attorney than a donut shop. Just food for thought.

Even in rural USA, these people are getting pitched left and right. I've noticed a lot of national SEO companies are targeting these small town business owners MUCH more than they used to. They'll love the fact that you're "local".

Place an ad on your local paper about a free talk you're giving on the subject matter that your prospects is interested in.

Make sure the offer is irresistible... eg In 3 hours, I'm going to train you on (what your prospect is interested in) that will help you to (solve a problem they are facing) for FREE

Make sure you give lots of value in your talk... build up your credibility first using case studies or other credentials. Don't be afraid to give them tips that they can implement straight away and see results with

Have an upsell in place at the end of the talk... at the minimum, have them opt-in to receive more information from you (so you can follow up with them)

Rinse and repeat

If I was faced with your predicament, I'd go one of two ways;

Build a local portal website, as others have suggested, and advertise it offline.
You could offer free short term placements for businesses who allow you to drop
leaflets for their customers to pick up. Once traffic has built, you can then think
about monetisation. Renting out individual keyword based pages could be one
option, as you'll have server stats to show how much traffic each page gets.

The other option I'd consider is building a vertical niche directory. A directory
just for dentists in your catchment area. Similar business model as above, renting
out keyword based pages, using your server stats to show how much traffic they
get, and pricing your packages accordingly.

A word on server stats. They might show keywords people have used to find your
site for pages that don't exist. I'd be inclined to use them as cues for future
development.

The advantages of these kinds of models is that you're only promoting one site,
you're not getting backlinks etc. for a number of sites. This could lead to further
consulting work further down the road.

HTH

Glenn

If you've got an offline business, I would start my putting out small classifieds in magazines and start doing some networking. Word of mouth is key for you here.

I'm not really sure what you sell or what you offer, but if you have no money at all for advertizing then word of mouth is probably your best bet here, coupled with some small magazine/newspaper ads.

Nick

Great thread, thanks! I had the same questions as the OP.

I've had a lot of experience with offline businesses.

They are too busy running their business and want "done for you" solutions - that is, say yes to you, you give them what they want fully operational and making them money and they give you a cheque.

Simple and painless for them is the trick.

Steve

I have been marketing offline for 2 years now with San Diego Internet Marketing | Business Marketing Online - My Business Marketing
I charge $1,500 to $2,500 per month, per client. You can see a breakdown of services on link above. I get most my clients from Business Mixers, Chamber of Commerce and breakfast clubs like LeTip or BNI. Good luck...