"The Secrets of List Building Unmasked"

Even if your business is Internet based and has no physical store or office, you can still make excellent use of offline advertising to promote your business. Some of these methods will be free of charge, while others will cost very little in the way of financial resources.

Here are just a few of the ways you can create new customer opportunities with the use of offline advertising.

One of the easiest ways to kick off your offline traffic program is with the use of a flier. With the quality software that is on the market these days, you can easily design fliers that help to advertise your business.

The real question will be where to place the fliers, so they are not an irritant and can be placed legally. For this, you will need input from the local authorities.

Contact your city or town government and find out what the local laws and regulations are when it comes to passing out fliers for a business. In many cases you will find that there is some restriction when it comes to municipal parking lots.

It may be possible to obtain a permit that will allow you to place fliers at a specific event that the city is sponsoring. Also, the city will often know which shopping centers around town allow fliers to be placed on cars in their parking lots.

Along with the local government, check with the local chamber of commerce. You may find that they will have events coming up where you will be free to pass out fliers to persons entering or leaving the event.

You may find the chamber especially receptive to this idea if you sponsor or co-sponsor an event, which is another way of saying you agree to pay for part of the cost of putting on the event. While you may not want to do a lot of this sort of thing, it may very well help you to try it out once or twice.

Another place to think about fliers is at local retail stores, such as supermarkets. Many grocers now provide community bulletin boards that allow fliers to be posted for a specified period. This is also true with some restaurants. While the placing will not be permanent, at least the information will be in front of people for an extended period of time.

Along with the flier, you will also get a lot of mileage with a business card. Of all the forms of advertising, a business card is one of the easiest ways to cultivate sales opportunities. Any conversation is a chance to leave a card with your web address in the hands of a potential client.

You can place a business card in a fish bowl at the local eateries, post them on bulletin boards, and give some to friends to pass on to interested parties. You may also try some unorthodox methods, such as “accidentally” leaving one or two of your cards at the table or booth when you go out to eat, or even leaving a couple on the sink in a public restroom.

Believe it or not, this can actually lead to some sales.

Contrary to popular opinion, business cards do not have to be unusual in order to be effective. A plain card that sports simple fonts may be just what you need in some businesses. Have some fun with the color scheme on the card, but make sure the information is easy to read.

More important, make sure the card works well with card scanning equipment. Many people who are interested in your products will run the card through a card scanner as a quick way to put your information in their address book. If the card has fancy fonts the scanner software does not recognize, or the text fades into the background, the scan may fail and your chances of being added diminish.

At the same time, there is no rule that says you can’t have some fun with your business card. Try making it a little thicker, so the card stands out in a pile. Consider putting text on both sides of the card for some added interest. Also, you could try a circular card rather than a rectangular card. Just make sure the circle will run through a card scanner without jamming it.

Just as you can leave a flier or a business card in your wake, there is also the matter of leaving behind a brochure. Home printing software allows you to create some excellent trifold brochures that are ideal for use around town.

They also are great for use at business shows, conventions, and trade shows. As an added bonus, a trifold brochure fits nicely into a standard business envelope, which makes the piece ideal for use in direct mail campaigns.

If you design your own brochures and save the templates, it is very easy to customize the brochure for special occasions or for a particular campaign. Keep in mind you will need to get paper that is the proper weight for a brochure, if you really want to create a slick and professional look.

Along with brochures, think about the use of post cards as a means of promoting your business. This excellent direct mail option works very well, since research indicates people are more likely to take a moment to check both sides of a post card before discarding.

That is one side more than most people check when it comes to envelopes. This second chance may be just what you need to create interest and get the recipient to check out your web site.

Post cards can be created at home using software, or you can use an online printer for the job. Doing the cards yourself is very cost effective, but a postcard that makes good use of the stock formats and images of an online printing service may not be as expensive as you may think.

In fact, you may find that the savings on time and supplies may be enough to make the use of the service well worth the effort. Just make sure the spelling, punctuation, and layout of the post card is exactly what you want before signing off on the print job.

Classified ads in magazines, newsletters, and the local newspaper may be worth looking into. Normally contracted on a fixed rate per word or characters, take a long hard look at the circulation figures for the publication. Also, keep in mind the sector of the public that reads the paper or magazine.

For example, if you sell vegetarian foods, there is not much point in placing your ad with a publication that caters to people who love to eat meat. On the other hand, a newspaper may be ideal if your products or services are attractive to a wide variety of people.

With any type of offline advertising, make sure that you understand what opportunities are right for your business, and learn all you can about that medium before committing to any sort of advertising arrangement. This will help to ensure that you get an equitable return on your investment.