How to look like a real company when marketing offline?

6 replies
Hello Warriors,

Most of us always wonder when we sell our services offline do we need a website, business cards, letterhead etc. Being online we can forget how the offline business world is. This is some good info on How to build business presence and stand out from the crowd. It involves a small investment.

Here is where I say you start

1.Register your company in your state of residence or use rocket lawyer or legal zoom. Cost is Usually like $60-$100(This can be optional until you start making money)

2.Get a tax ID#/EIN from Irs.gov

3.Go to go daddy and purchase a domain name with your company name$9.99

4.Purchase Hosting from hostgator.$7.99

5.Go to Google email and create a business account to use @yourdomain.com email address $5.00/Month

6.Get a Word Press theme and build a nice site for yourself or hire another warrior here to do so. No More than $200. Have a budget

7.The next thing you need to do is create a Facebook page for your business or product, not a personal page a business page.

8.I would also say get yourself a 1800 number with/or some other virtual number that can forward calls to you so you don't give out your

9.This option is solely so you don't give out your home address, this looks Extremely unprofessional. Get a Virtual Address or mailbox where you can use the address for your mail and stationary. Also this can be a place where you can offer clients to meet you and close the deal. I suggest using Regus

10.Also get a FedEx Business account as well as a Kinkos account. This is very simple to do and you wont have to pay for your mail campaigns upfront. Use it when printing all those direct mailers.

11.Go to the bank of your choice with your LLC filing papers as well as your Tax ID and open a Business checking account. I recommend Wells Fargo as they give you an incoming and outgoing account for easy accounting tracking as well as many other accounting features on the online banking.

12.Hire a decent designer for your company logo, business card and stationary. Upload to your chosen printer. Get a decent amount of each.

13.To add an extra touch I would say to order those polo shirts from Vista Print with your company logo embroidered. We often want to know what to wear when we meet with clients. A nice polo, pair of nice khakis and shoes. We are in the IT/IM/OM world casual will be fine especially if you follow this to a T and use the virtual office for meetings.

14. NOW LASTLY OFFER YOUR TALENTS AND SERVICES TO OFFLINE BUSINESSES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bonus Options
*CRM Software to manage client projects
*Paypal Business Account
*Virtual Assistant
*Sales Copy for direct mail campaigns
*YouTube Videos
*Google AdWords for local business search for some leads

No matter what service you are offering this will give your business a Full Presence that you should build onto as you make money and grow your company. Think long term and build brand authority.
#company #marketing #offline #real
  • Profile picture of the author Fernando Veloso
    Or... do most part of that and share an office with another people starting up, and turn yourself into a real offline provider. You can share an office for less then 100€ per month (at least over here), and that includes a lady to answer the phone, cleaning lady once a week, and free wi-fi.

    Take this from a guy who's been doing it since 2004, and decided to get back to a nice building, with a great view, instead of working @ home in pajama: you'll close WAY more deals with a real office. And with lunches with real people, meetings in your office, and so on. Most people who REALLY invest in OUR industry, do prefer to do business with folks with a real office, with real people, with real phones.

    Otherwise, you'll always be "the freelance guy". And big opportunities rarely hit freelance door.

    P.S. - I am writing this at home, in my home office (where I do receive some of my best clients, even for dinner and late meetings) watching a football game and drinking a cold iced-tea.

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  • Profile picture of the author Mr Ted DiBiase
    Thats a great Idea Veloso. If you partner up with others you could cut down on costs as well as get some of the upgraded premium services from the Virtual Office providers. Virtual and shared offices usually coexist within their service.

    I forgot to mention make sure that the virtual office provider has offices and conference rooms for use whenever needed also. But I did say use Regus which all have offices and conference rooms to meet clients and all other amenities. They are a leader in the business. You could probably find some local more boutique shared places in your town or city.
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  • Profile picture of the author NewParadigm
    Many offices have subleases, more informal and will share receptionist, office machines etc...instead of nickel and diming you to death like the professional shared spaces.


    Here is a similar startup advice by Altucher, a good read:

    The Ultimate Cheat Sheet For Starting And Runni... - The Altucher Confidential - Quora
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    In a moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing. ~ Theodore Roosevelt

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  • Profile picture of the author kpmedia
    Originally Posted by Mr Ted DiBiase View Post

    4.Purchase Hosting from hostgator.$7.99
    Why?
    There are better hosts than EIG-owned HG ... and they often cost less!
    For example, Arvixe is twice the host HG is, and only costs $4.

    Win-win.
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  • Profile picture of the author sdentrepreneur
    Good list...
    I would have added leveraging LinkedIn, create a Company Profile and get many Recommendations.

    Here is mine, if you want some ideas :-)

    JMH Marketing Group | LinkedIn

    James
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    Learn Digital, Internet and Social Media Marketing For Your Business
    Click here to learn more - Digital and Social Media Marketing Training Course

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