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discrat
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Joined: 30 Jan 2008
Posts: 31
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# Posted: 18 Apr 2008 13:30 · Edited by: discrat
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I think too many people trying to succeed at Internet Marketing really ignore an important part of promoting their product. And that is concentrating too much on Online Marketing and not enough on Offline Marketing of their Product/Website.
Handing out Business Cards to maintenance people, fastfood employees, Carnival and Circus workers, City Garbage men, Sewage Department workers, Postal people, recent individuals who have foreclosed on their homes or filed for Bankruptcy are just a few potential golden nuggets for finding and generating new leads.
Also putting fliers of your Website on laudromat Billboards and cafeteria Billboards are some other effective avenues.
Just keep your mind open to things and dont be so overly focused on SEO, Search Engine rankings etc..etc..
There are so many other untapped area for Leads Generation 
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Homeboy
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Joined: 4 Feb 2008
Posts: 219
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# Posted: 18 Apr 2008 16:18
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I guess that depends on the product you're marketing and who you're marketing to, lol.....
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mountainmom5
Joined: 30 Aug 2007
Posts: 1781
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# Posted: 18 Apr 2008 16:50 · Edited by: mountainmom5
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I agree discrat - there are people all around us that are also looking for a way to improve their lives....
One of our Directors made a sale thru leaving his business card in the pocket of a business suit he tried on - 
One of my favorite place to leave a card is in the card slot at the gas pump - you are almost guaranteed that that person will look at it - especially if it has something about making more money - as he is dumping his hard earned money into his gas tank.
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BillyPilgrim
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Joined: 11 Mar 2008
Posts: 113
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# Posted: 18 Apr 2008 19:31
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I'm sorry, I disagree. This is the shotgun method. I'd rather get in front of a starving market that is already buying. That's the product I will sell them.
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happywife
Joined: 14 Aug 2007
Posts: 1058
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# Posted: 18 Apr 2008 22:59
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Does one method have to be done to the exclusion of the other? I think online is going to be the most effective in the long run, but offline has its merits if it is natural occurrence.
I wouldn't necessarily go far out of my way to promote offline (personally), but in the regular course of your days opportunities arise that may as well be taken advantage of.
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kalien
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Joined: 9 Oct 2007
Posts: 66
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# Posted: 18 Apr 2008 23:27
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The differential between your on- and off-line marketing efforts should be evaluated by the product / service you are providing. If you're simply selling e-books, you might want to consider strictly liniting your promotions online. If you have aservice of product that is farther reaching and useful, you should utilize all available marketing resources that are within your budget.
Kalien
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GunHoChris
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Joined: 2 Apr 2008
Posts: 24
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# Posted: 20 Apr 2008 01:19
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discrat: I think too many people trying to succeed at Internet Marketing really ignore an important part of promoting their product. And that is concentrating too much on Online Marketing and not enough on Offline Marketing of their Product/Website. Handing out Business Cards to maintenance people, fastfood employees, Carnival and Circus workers, City Garbage men, Sewage Department workers, Postal people, recent individuals who have foreclosed on their homes or filed for Bankruptcy are just a few potential golden nuggets for finding and generating new leads. Also putting fliers of your Website on laudromat Billboards and cafeteria Billboards are some other effective avenues. Just keep your mind open to things and dont be so overly focused on SEO, Search Engine rankings etc..etc.. There are so many other untapped area for Leads Generation
You must understand you can go ahead and advertise offline and do all these things but you are just creating more work for yourself although you are generating more business.
If you learn to use the power of the Internet effectively then you can get the same effect with half the time spent and also with little to no effort and then your business is truly running automated.
That's one of the main reasons why people join this industry, besides the luxury of working for themselves, they want their businesses to be automated to they can spend more time doing what they enjoy while their businesses run themselves and to do this, it's all done through the Internet.
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westfam11
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Joined: 8 Aug 2007
Posts: 468
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# Posted: 20 Apr 2008 09:55
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I agree GunHoChris, that is one of the main reasons people choose this industry because of being able to work at home.
I do not actively look or promote offline but if the situation arises I will be glad to share with anyone who is interested. But with me it has to be during the course of the day and is a natural thing not something I go out and try to make happen on my own.
Becky West
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snibbor
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Joined: 20 Feb 2008
Posts: 16
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# Posted: 20 Apr 2008 15:13
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To me it is like going fishing. The more hooks you have out the greater the possibility you will catch fish. You might even catch a few big ones that are great marketers.
Nial
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Marktech
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Joined: 8 Jan 2008
Posts: 219
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# Posted: 21 Apr 2008 17:14
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There's more than one way to skin a cat.
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discrat
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Joined: 30 Jan 2008
Posts: 31
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# Posted: 22 Apr 2008 12:10
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HEHEHE...I like those last 2 Posts. So True with all aspects in life
Just use your common sense
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VictoriaNTC
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Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 513
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# Posted: 22 Apr 2008 14:13
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I agree..
We are spending the summer in a small, poor town.
There is a sugar factory, nothing else to speak of.
The houses are tiny, tiny..and so many rely on government benefits.
I plan to offer anyone here help in joining Wealthy Affiliate University.
Not a bad idea!
Victoria
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pcwork
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Joined: 12 Aug 2006
Posts: 1595
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# Posted: 22 Apr 2008 20:46
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If you are selling your product locally, offline marketing is important
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affiliate
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Joined: 18 Apr 2008
Posts: 33
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# Posted: 22 Apr 2008 22:30
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It depends on the product or service that you are promoting.
If you are promoting a web based program (for instance affiliate marketing), your marketing would differ as compared to finding
individuals who are facing foreclosure.
I market an affiliate program strictly online but my real estate investing business is marketed through papers, fliers, ads on Craigslist, the MLS (which hits both online and offline), etc...
I look at everything as a cost and time factor.
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GavinStephenson
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Joined: 24 Apr 2008
Posts: 95
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# Posted: 26 Apr 2008 22:15
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I use to pay people to hand out my business cards in busy areas. It works.
put them on cars as well.. but i don't spend any money adverting anymore and i get better results
I give free stuff and that drives tons of leads my way.
Great post
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freecashhappens
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Joined: 21 Apr 2008
Posts: 41
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# Posted: 4 May 2008 02:34
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Offline Marketing is just as important as online marketing. I used to be in the car business and I wore dealership clothing, hats, t-shirts. Just so we could get the dealership name out there. Think like the pros do and you will have traffic coming from everywhere. And don't forget the law of attraction!!
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SovereignWealth
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Joined: 18 Sep 2007
Posts: 69
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# Posted: 4 May 2008 02:56
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discrat: Just keep your mind open to things and dont be so overly focused on SEO, Search Engine rankings etc..etc..
I'm sorry but I will have to respectfully disagree here. It is all about leverage. If you hand out business cards or fliers to people you are not leveraging anything. You are handing out one piece of advertising to one lead.
I would much prefer to work on advertising that leverages my efforts so that one piece of well placed and targeted advertising hits hundreds or thousands of potential leads .
My point is you can leverage the same amount of time and effort to attract hundreds or thousands of highly targeted leads rather than a few people receiving your business cards.
To your success,
Michael
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lakshmi_guru
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Joined: 3 May 2008
Posts: 24
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# Posted: 4 May 2008 09:09
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I agree with you. almost 90% of the people who is working from home is concentrating on online marketing and not in offline marketing. I am sure offline market will boost the business to higher level
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alden2237
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Joined: 27 May 2008
Posts: 1
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# Posted: 27 May 2008 08:42
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Hi discrat....it generally depends on the products you are focusing and the audience you seek.....ie. the online users or the off line ones...or may be both. There has to be a certain blend of mix to it....
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aplina
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Joined: 5 Nov 2007
Posts: 260
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# Posted: 27 May 2008 15:34
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l find its very expensive to put ads in news paper. if l compare to the online marketing is lots cheaper.
somepeople find it hard to market offline going to people and telling them what you do , am one of so the internet help me alot
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PMHayes
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Joined: 23 Apr 2008
Posts: 129
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# Posted: 30 May 2008 01:22 · Edited by: PMHayes
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Ok, here's my two cents worth. I maintain that focus on selling product is the small picture. I know that may sound a bit harsh, but i believe it is so. Here's why.
I don't think everyone who considers buying a Starbucks, Applebees, or McDonalds franchise likes everything on the menu. Better yet, i can see someone who doesn't even like coffee buying into Starbucks because of the sheer profitability of the company. They know millions of other people love coffee and because of that the business will prosper. The even bigger picture is the entrepreneur who buys more than one franchise. Even larger than that is the person who buys the entire company. He or she doesn't have to like coffee, they simply have to be able to recognize the profitability of Starbucks, and capitalize on it. That my friend, is the big picture.
I am in The Berry Tree and Nutronix, companies which deal in health and wellness products. I don't use or even need all of our products, but again, that's the small picture. Of course i use some of the products, and like them. But i would not necessarily have to. I simply have to recognize that the big picture is that millions of health concious people will use these products. In fact, the single largest consumer group in America today, the "Baby Boomers," are, as a whole, extremely health concious. Do you think when i market this business to someone in that demographic, they are not going to see the potential profitablity of a Home Based Business that deals in what millions of their peers purchase on a daily basis from, say, GNC or any other health supplements business? No, not all of them will, because not all of them are business minded. But, it only takes two or three sharp business minded individuals to explode your business and therefore your profitability.
Sure, when someone asks me what the products are, or if i use and like them, i answer them, truthfully. I don't spend a lot of time with the subject, but i do answer them. If they tell me that they want to try the product first, and if they like it, they may sign up as a distributor, i give them the links i have to try one or two of our products for free, well, they have to pay a little for shipping. But, and i don't mean to sound harsh, i don't hold my breath waiting for them to come running to me and tell me how wonderful the product is, and how they can't wait to sign up. It can happen, i know, but that has not been my experience. Why? Because it takes a special kind of person to do MLM anyway, a special kind of person, able to see the Big Picture, with a powerful enough "why." That "why" is usually not related to how wonderful the product is. Unfortunately those are the facts. In fact, often, as i have said before, people frequently use that whole let me try the products line as a smoke screen. It makes it easier to turn me down if they can come back with "it didn't work for me." That's easier for people to say than "no, I'm not interested."
And, please don't get me wrong here, I'm not a hard nose, but i don't want small minded, short sighted people in my downline. They are much more difficult to work with. They tend to need a lot of "encouragement" to do the marketing plan. Quite frankly, I really only have enough time to focus on those individuals who DO see the Big Picture, the ones with a true entrepreneurial spirit, a business mentality and the drive to succeed. Those are the individuals who will make themselves and me a lot of money. Yes, i will sign up the "product" people, they will do well in retail sales, because they believe in the product. That will help my overall business growth, and will help a lot of people live more healthy. Once in awhile someone may try a product, get all excited, and want to join the business, and even may become another superstar. But, in reality, that doesn't happen very often. I don't mean to sound like a hard nosed profit is the only really important thing, kind of person, I'm not. But, and never forget this, we are not in this thing for free. We are in this industry to make money and retire securely. So, I spend most of my time with those of the same mindset. Most, i said, not all.
I hope this was helpful to someone
Mitch
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A8ch
Joined: 24 Jun 2005
Posts: 560
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# Posted: 30 May 2008 10:47
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discrat: I think too many people trying to succeed at Internet Marketing really ignore an important part of promoting their product. And that is concentrating too much on Online Marketing and not enough on Offline Marketing of their Product/Website.
Although I don't view "concentrating too much on Online Marketing" as a bad thing (it IS Internet marketing!) I do agree with the overall premise of your statement.
It is easy to become blinded to the fact that the people we are trying to reach online actually exist somewhere in the flesh. The reality is that we all live offline.
You can find us in the supermarket, in places of worship, at the playground, the theatre, school, the library, the book store, on public transportation, standing in line somewhere, and in all the other places we like to hang out. So it makes perfect sense for us to take advantage of those offline opportunitiues as well... when it's convenient to our usual routine.
At the same time, however, we ought to keep in mind our targeted demographic. If my product is toys for toddlers, leaving a catalog with neighborhood day care centers might yield better results than pinning it on a laundromat bulletin board.
Hermas
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A8ch
Joined: 24 Jun 2005
Posts: 560
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# Posted: 30 May 2008 11:51
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PMHayes: Ok, here's my two cents worth. I maintain that focus on selling product is the small picture. I know that may sound a bit harsh, but i believe it is so.
Mitch,
Your statement is not harsh at all, just brutally honest and insightful!
Products and services are exchanged in the marketplace not only for their usefulness, but also as a means to an end for the parties involved. They are simply vehicles by which the participants progress to their goals and satisfy their desires.
I'll buy your wellness product because I'm convinced it will help me maintain good health. That's really my motive for making the purchase. You're selling me the product because it helps you to put another piece of your puzzle in place. We are both happy. Each of us could have achieved the same results with a completely different transaction.
It's the near-sighted that can't appreciate the bird's-eye view!
Hermas
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