Those sound like great ideas. Not sure about the loudspeaker.

Whatever you do... just make sure you are staying within your local ordinances.

I spoke with a guy who runs an auction house here about a month ago and one of their marketing tricks is offering free food just before the auction and this brings them in lots of extra people. The kicker is... they put out a donation jar and the donations always cover their costs!

-Michael

I am a little unsure of what you are promoting, i.e. getting people to list in the classifieds, use the classifieds, advertise on the site, etc. However:

I'm sure you know your local community better than anyone here, so if you think your people will respond to these activities, then go for it. The hot dog option will cost you actual dollars and cents, but if you have the budget .......

I like the idea of a 'donations' tin at your hot dog stand - but giving the donations to a local cause might earn you some more brownie points with the buyers.

I would also have someone man the stand with you, so that the hot dogs can keep being sold if you take the opportunity to talk about your service to another customer.

If you have a county fair, or other community gathering, you could sponsor someone else's hot dog stall, and just be there giving out your cards/flyers/magnets - whatever. Saves a lot of work.

Business card? You are limited with how much you can say on these, but if you want to keep it small I would swing to a fridge magnet - they tend to hang around longer than cards. Maybe put a picture of a hot dog on it to remind them where they saw you.

You could also consider having a competition for a free listing, free ad for a period etc etc

What about a local radio interview?
Get a good copywriter to put together a promotional flyer...... a lot cheaper than hot dogs and you can letterbox drop these (not recommended for hot dogs)

I'd think twice about the loudspeaker.

Best of luck.

Offline Methods to promote a website
12. Zip Baggies :Take a small zip close baggie (snack sizes work well) and include the following in it: Your Business Card, a Piece of Candy such as hard candy or a lollipop, mini flyer of current specials, discount coupon (optional) etc. Hand these out to the bank tellers, retail cashiers, at your kids sport events, every where you go!

13. Hotels & Motels : When I stay at hotels & motels I leave a mini flyer, my business card and a mini coin canister for the maid! I put her tip inside the mini coin canister! Be creative when you leave tips for Hotel Maids, Waitresses, Waiters, Hair Dressers, etc. Don’t just hand them your business card, make it memorable! You can also buy cute little beaded change purses at your local dollar discount store!
14. Housing Marketing : Print out flyers with your contact info (not your personal address), your website address & email address along with any current specials you are offering. Then contact local area mobile home park offices, apartment complex rental offices, housing developments etc and ask them if you can leave fliers in their office or hang on their tenants doors. Give the office employees a free gift or discount on their personal orders.
15. Church Fests : A lot of churches hold a Spring and Fall Fest! Contact them about getting a table or a booth. A lot of times this will cost you under $15.00 for a space! Make sure you take products with you along with fliers, plenty of catalogs, business cards etc. Do a contest drawing at these types of events. Make up entry blanks that gather the customers info so that you can initiate contact with them again!
16. Car Decals : Put your website address on your car. There are many local companies that provide decal services. Just check your yellow pages. Or you can even find online suppliers such as Stickers, Bumper Stickers - Sticker Giant . If your website address is difficult to remember use a vanity domain name that redirects to your main website. For example, let’s say you are in the credit repair business and your company name is CrediTronix with your domain being CrediTronix.com. A more memorable domain name would be FixMyCreditToday.com . This way when people see it on your car it would be easier for them to remember when they get home.
17. College Campuses : Dorms & Housing Students are always looking to spend money! Drop off fliers and business cards to the College Student Center! They usually have bulletin boards, tables and other things where you can leave your information at for FREE!
18. Hospitals : Contact your local area hospitals and ask for Human Resources Dept. The Majority of hospitals hand out New Mommy Diaper Bags filled with products, samples and other stuff for New Moms who just had a baby! It’s FREE for you to add in your information! You can get several customers by participating in these types of programs. You can also do this with local medical offices, clinics, dental practices etc.
19. Donate a Product : to your local area Radio Station, they have numerous contests and they are always looking for sponsors! Your donation can be written off as a tax deduction plus you will get FREE Advertising & Business Exposure for your donation! You can also use the same method at local area Bingo Halls! They are always looking for sponsors of their Bingo Prizes! Bingo is BIG in a lot of areas!
20. Contact Companies in your area to see if you can come in and set up a table in the employee lounge or cafeteria for a employee shopping break! These days a lot of companies will allow you to do this if you ask them!
21. Local Area TV : Does your local area TV cable company have a local information channel? Inquire about advertising! These ads will reach thousands of potential buyers for you! I recommend you only use your website address for these types of advertising and not your personal at home address.

22. Outdoor banners : Get a low cost outdoor banner printed up with your business information on it ( or just your website address). You can usually get them done for $55 or less depending on who makes it. You can have these outdoor banners displayed at outdoor music/concert events, outdoor children’s sporting events, outdoor adult sport events, outdoor neighborhood block parties, outdoor community events, carnivals, fairs, etc. You can even have someone dress up in a costume (such as a chicken suit) and have them hold your ad banner in peak traffic areas. Rarely do you see businesses using this system to generate traffic to their website.
So there you have it ! Hopefully, you will employ some or all of these techniques in your marketing campaigns and boost your profits in return.
Wish you all the success !
(source : How can i made 5200$ in 58 days on my 1st online experience ? )

One thing I do that really works is I hire a few pretty girls to wear my tee shirts and I send them out to the fair or the San Gennero Feast. With some cards. I get a ton of traffic the next day.

One great way of getting noticed is having a decal on your car back window. I did it for one of my sites and while I sit in traffic everyday hundreds of people see my site and I get pretty good traffic flow from it coming from my area.

Your seeing a lot of this now days where I am at so I am sure its working for other people also.

Jason

One thing to mention. If you are using offline strategies to promote a site. Make sure the URL is short, easy to spell and very EASY to remember.

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Put the url in a car window. Also you can put it on your t-shirt.

I found an incredible offline tool to build relationships, gain refferals and increase customer royalty. There is one point getting customers and another retaining. You might find this tool indespensible like myself.
Small Business Owners Brought To You By Annette Tush

Advertising Offline

* Create and Print out postcards from your computer and place these postcards on bulletin boards which can normally be found in places like the train depot, post office, and etc.

* Some fast food joints have paper placemats and at times they use sponsors for advertisements, or coupons on these paper placemats. Find these fast food places and speak with the manager about being added on them.

* Always write or print your domain name on any letters you send off in the mail, including paying your bills. You are paying for the mail so why not get the use out of the blank white space on the envelopes.

* Approx $50 can get you a nice magnetic sign to putonyour car door.

* Have a decal created and add your advertisment to back glass on your car.

* Create bumper stickers and give them out

* Run "Tiny" classified ads ( there goes an original idea ..lol )

* Some weekly mags (most call junk mail) has free advertising spots check with the smaller papers in the small towns near you.

* Sponsor a donations drive.

* Create flyers and hand them out, tape them in local stores windows (if allowed), put them on car windsheilds (some states do not allow this).

The ideas are really unlimited, you just have to think outside the box a little sometimes. Such as you hotdog stand (reminds me of the old days when you wanted something you opened a lemonade stand)

James

Thanks for explanations, I too have a website, and it has helped me.

There was a guy just outside Birmingham's very busy New Street station all last week handing out free credit card sized calendars with his website url's on the back.

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Instead of giving away free hot-dogs ... take their contact info instead of handing out yours. If you want to do DIRECT MAIL (I hope you are) thne you got their contact info ... or you can also get their email this way. I wouldnt just hand out something for free without GRABBING something in return.

And I guess everybody wants a free hot dog

Good idea tho!