What would you like tp know about Offline Marketing

Does offline marketing really work, when people hang out in parking lots and place flyers and computer printouts advertising their online business and services to the general public on their car windshields? Does that really work, in being an effective form of offline advertising?

Real greenie and you can tell a newbie - What is offline marketing????

As for flyers under car windows this probably is not a safe method as many car parks have rules about this.

Would be better to attend chamber of commerce etc where business people hang out and give a free presentation.

Quentin

can you enumerate some offline marketing strategies that really work?

What is the "hot" service to promote in offline marketing?

I love how people think offline marketing is simply advertising.

Also question since you've done it for 12 years... Why are there so many people jumping on the band wagon with no clue at all, no education, no experience and normally no skill?

It seems browsing these forums all I see these days is try hards trying to make a quick buck on some new scam without even doing research and learning the fundamentals of marketing.

Since you did it before IM really took off you would have seen the difference in the professionalism (or lack thereof these days) in the industry.



*I study marketing at uni, and do work with local business owners for free to develop skills, and it pisses me off seeing posts "got my first client - what do I do?"
(I also accept that being Australian we have a very very different mindset on success)

Hi Wibinst

I believe Philippinos in Cebu are the best at this.

Mr Polar

Some of the best an most profitale are writing content for offline businesses. Most have never added any content since their site was built and why they do so poorly.

Hey immean

I think the best hottest service to promote at the moment is mobile websites. Very few people doing it and a good way to get the client into your sales funnel.

http://businessmobilewebsite.com/

Hey Josh

I guess it is free so people get that type of mindset. They will come crashing down which is sad. Develop your skills and you will be in high demand. I do a lot of free work for charities just to develop my skills and keep up with customer trends.

Jimmy

Google places is good however I would never build my business around it as Google has the habit of changing things. Concentrate on the things you have most control over.

Hey Jorexer

Variety is the spice of life and variation would be best. Plus then you can tag different keywords.

Quentin

Sorry.

Best way is to use one of the many online services and then get a small job done first. Then I usually get a longer one which is a little complex and has deadlines to sort out the best.

The hard part is finding consistency

Doing the tests first weeds out all the wanna bees.

There is no quick way I have found and this will give you good staff. Aslo make sure you pay a reasonable rate and include bonuses.

Quentin

Thanks Quentin. I am also interested in the pricing structure for building and maintaining mobile websites. I am sure there is a boatload of businesses that could benefit from having one.

what do you think about mailing out postcards? do you know anything about their conversion rates?

Quentin,

First of all, again thank you for sharing your knowledge. It's appreciated deeply.

Is Mobi Websites an appropriate "outsourcing" business? I enjoy the "hunt" of finding the sale, however, my technical skills are non-existent. My vision: Find the client, sell the client and "outsource" the building of the mobi site. Deliver to the client what they were expecting and more.

My goal with any sale is an exceptional customer experience along with delivering a superb product. My concern is not being able to fully manage the process without being heavily technical.

I would appreciate your thoughts.

Thank you, Flora

I dont think it matters what niche.

You hear everyone taking lawyers, dentists however never been able to close one of them. We do mechanics, advertising agents and all their subsidiaries, social clubs.

Pricing really depends on your area and the client.

Here is a range.

Mobile 300 to 500 depending on no pages and edits
Refurb 1000 to 3000 again depending on pages and edits
Posting from 35 each post including indexing
hosting from 300 per year

As for posting out cards if you have a great offer and it is written correctly they can still convert well.

If you have a good story any business will do well from press releases.

If you really want to profit off mobile website make a few templates for them to choose from then just copy paste info from their website.

As for outsourcing it is absolutely a good model especially if the customer already has a a website.

Quentin

Quentin,

How does the google search aspect play out when done from a moblie phone...do mobile sites factor heavier in results?

(compared to the same search query done from a computer)

Thanks

Hi Quentin:
I am trying to get my mobile marketing business going. I thought I would start by offering mobile websites and sms. Not sure how to price things out. Also, another thing holding me back is getting proposals, contracts, invoices. Do you know where I can find these or do you have any that I could use? I just find alot of them have too much lawyer mumbo jumbo and would like something simple that I can explain, or the business and I can understand.

I would like you to provide an ordered list of some offline services to offer customers that a newbie starting in Offline marketing should provide and get started.

I have a handful of clients but I am having an issue with my tracking of the changes and updates I make for them. Do you have a system/software that you use to keep track of all your updates and notes for each client you have?

Most consumers will begin their journey to purchasing a specific item (as opposed to an impulse buy) with a search. It’s relatively simple – and fairly standard these days – to work out which search terms are driving online sales, and load the campaign towards the more profitable keywords. But, what’s more complex – but equally important – is understanding the whole process that the customer goes through before buying. That process is rarely as simple as ‘search on profitable keyword, click link, buy’.

Maybe MR its to cheap. We deal with other offline marketers all the time and trying to get them to up their prices is one of the things we find the hardest and yet is key to being profitable.

Doran no mobile sites do no rank as well at present however they are picking up pace. Just do a little research.

If you mean do you get better results for mobiles if searching on a mobile I don't think so at the moment.

Gig this is a common question.

Best thing for pricing is to research other people doing the same thing in your loacl market. Do a search for web designers in your city. Even ring them up and see hjow they handle the process.

As for paper work we just use standard forms and quoting system. We have simple invoices but detailed descriptions which we all sign off on.

sjohn

Mobile Websites
Refurbish Old Sites
Blogging
SEO
Image optimization
Online Assett Surveys
Hourly touch ups like adding or altering websites
and the list goes on........

Of course as a newbie you better know your stuff or you can come undone very quickly.

Me I did a lot of study before I hit the offline world.

What is the best and most cost effective way to outsource a large, constant volume of SEO/website work?


Already answered that one previously. Its sort of a funny question because you just don't go out tomorrow and buy something like this.

You need to interview and test etc if you want the right solution.

jorxer2 and citations

Citations are just links from business directories so you could get anyone to do it for you. Hand crafted ones are always better. Also as soon as you find some software so will everyone else and then it ill be outdated.Set up a system where you can get them outsourced and target specific keywords.

TJ Rose

Because I am not the only one working on our customer sites we use Google Docs and spreadsheets. We then collaborate so if I do a job and see something else that needs fixing I add it in to the spread sheet.

We have a sheet for each worker, a general sheet for general work and bigger clients will have there own sheet and sometimes their own folder.

ava681 not to sure what you mean

Best strategy for you or the customer.

Hi Michelle

Its a yes and no to your statement. Lots do in fact I had a lady recently who bought a course and then contacted me to ask what it was about. Rare though.

A purchase starts with a thought.

It then translates into an idea, justification and gratification.

People are looking for significance and security so help them with this and the above.

If you can provide these things then its a fairly simple process.

If you have to continually convince them then it is a very hard sell.

I thought of a new ipad, I justified why I need it, I am still going through the process of getting it into the idea stage but once it hits that want idea whoever turns up first with the right offer will get the sale.

Quentin

@Quentin, First of all Thank you for making yourself available like this.
I would appreciate your input on working for small businesses for a referral fee. I have come accross a couple businesses offering such fees on their website, and having no success selling my sites as rental sites, I am pursuing one of them, whom was very interested and is currently paying someone more than advertised, just waiting for our meeting to happen the first of the week. My biggest concern in this model is tracking the referral, all I have come up with is trying to compel them to fill in an aweber form to receive a link and password to gain access to the company's info I am promoting, feeling like that may seriously decrease referral rates.
Your thoughts Sir, Dave