|
  |
|
|
Promoting An Online Business Offline
By Tony Payne
Many people think that if you are running an online business you can only promote it online, and this is often far from the truth. Indeed, sometimes the best way to find new customers is to look at the marketplace in your local area, and you might be surprised at what you might find. You might notice in some shops and restaurants a jar where you are invited to place your business card, and you can enter a draw for a free meal. This is usually a marketing technique used by investment companies and the like, to invite select people to a meal, where they give a promotional talk and try to sell the benefits of placing your investments in their hands. While this is not an online business, I am sure that you can see how profitable this can be when trying to recruit customers to fit your business, in this case people who have business cards, and therefore in theory have a decent job and money to invest. One of the business areas that I am involved with is promoting Phone Cards so that people can make Overseas Calls at a lower price than with the type of cards you see in a convenience store, and definitely at a far lower price than making the calls through your regular phone provider, either landline or mobile. Online I have a number of articles and web pages that extol the benefits of using the cards that I promote, as well as highlighting the pitfalls of using other cards that often have hidden charges, and are not cheaper at all. But offline is where I often find a lot of customers, and here are some ways to think outside the box and to find new sales for your business. Thinking about people who make overseas phone calls, let's assume that we are in say South Florida, where there is a significant Hispanic community. here we have thousands of people from Central and South America, with family members that are still in the homeland and that make international calls. What we need to do is to tap into that market. A good way to do this is to print off some business cards that highlight your product, and list your web site address. Start with local businesses that you have a relationship with, for example your hairdresser or a family owned restaurant or local bar. The best places are those that have regular customers that stop at the counter and chat. In my case, I would look for places that have a lot of foreign clientel, which in South Florida is not a problem. Many of these have business cards on the counter or in the window, and if you ask nicely, they are often willing to allow you to leave a pile of cards for customers to take. You can also offer to promote their business online for free, with either articles (like a piece of Intel on Qondio for example), or an article or link on your blog. This is sure to gain you acceptance to leave your cards on the counter. "But what if I am not in Florida" you might ask. Well, consider the number of Mexicans in the USA, and the growing number of people from India or Eastern Europe. Canada is full of Indians and Chinese, and most of Europe has a population that comes from all over the world. All of these people call home, and some might do it more often if the price was right. The same techniques work if you are trying to promote a web business selling Books, DVD's, Perfume or just about any type of product. I hope this helps, especially if you are stuck for ways to promote a business online. There is nothing better for a business than an influx of new customers from a new marketplace, to think outside the box and tap into your local community. You may be surprised at what you might achieve. |
Almost Free Phone Calls
PLEASE VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S WEBSITE
No reactions yet.
Please login or sign up to rate this intel.
Please login or sign up to add a comment.
Simple proves to be the most effective over and over again, doesn't it?
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
Definitely. Keeping things simple is usually the best policy.
Very informative lens. I had never thought about this kind of advertising. Sounds like it could work for my Will.
Thanks, Tony.
The copyright for this content entitled "Promoting An Online Business Offline" has been specified by the contributor as:
Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0
Details 
This content may be copied and distributed (but not modified), as long as the original author is acknowledged with a link back to the content page.
If you use this content according to the license specified, you must link to the following URL:
http://poddys.qondio.com/
|
 |
|
This intel was contributed by Poddys
Poddys
|
May, 2012
2008
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2009
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2010
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2011
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2012
January, February, March, April, May
|
|
Not a member yet?
Qondio is a powerful network for making it online. If you have a website to
promote, we can help.
Sign up and get in on the action.
|
|
Welcome to Qondio! Discover the awesome power this network can deliver by going to our About page. Or you could skip straight to the Sign Up form.
|
|
