Description
Part I – Traditional Offline Marketing
Don’t think of these methods as too simple or mundane.
They are very effective when done right and combined with
other techniques in this report.
1) Classified Ads – This is something everyone should be
testing in some form or another. It’s great for lead
generations. You should still have a strong benefitdriven headline and a clear call to action. Free reports
work very well with classifieds. My local paper, the
Hartford Courant even has an ongoing deal of 3 lines
for 3 days – for free! Even adding more lines only ends
up costing a few bucks. With a price like that, there’s
no reason anyone with a website should not be testing
ways to draw traffic to the site with classifieds.
2) Direct Mail – Nothing beats direct response when it
comes to results-driven proven advertising. And
messages sent directly to your highly targeted market
via direct mail can deliver a terrific return on
investment (ROI) when tested properly. There’s a
wealth of information on direct marketing by Michel
Fortin, David Garfinkel, Gary Halbert, Dan Kennedy,
and many more experts. Here are some sites where
you can learn more:
http://www.successdoctor.com – Michel Fortin’s main site
http://www.world-copywriting-institute.com – David
Garfinkel’s site
http://www.thegaryhalbertletter.com – Home of the Gary
Halbert Letter
101 Ways To Promote Your Business For Maximum Profits
http://www.dankennedy.com – Dan Kennedy’s site
http://www.srds.com – The Standard Rate & Data (SRDS)
List Book, a great resource to locate mailing lists of nearly
any type you can imagine. You can also find it in some
larger city libraries.
http://www.referenceusa.com – Reference USA is a great
place to get compiled lists by industry, SIC, demographics
and more. It contains names, addresses and lots of other
great information on more than 12 million U.S. businesses,
102 million U.S. residents, 683,000 U.S. health care
providers, 1 million Canadian businesses, and 11 million
Canadian residents.
http://www.usps.com – The US Postal Service website has
a variety of tools and educational materials about direct
mail as well.
3) Postcards – Yes, postcards are a form of direct mail,
but it warrants its own category. Postcards are cheaper
to produce and mail than full-blown direct mail
packages or sales letters, and they are great for
generating leads. Like classified ads, a free report or
free gift often works well here. Postcards are also a
great way to stay in touch with your customers and
prospects, and they also work well as part of a
sequence of mailings. A good place to go for
customized postcards is http://www.usps.com (the US
Postal Service website), because the USPS has
partnered with a company that will print and mail your
postcards for you! Best of all, you only pay for the
postage (i.e. FREE printing costs). Hint: be sure to
include yourself on the mailing list so you can get your
own mailing as well.
4) Yellow Pages – Another great resource that is often
underutilized or used ineffectively. Yellow page ads are
great because when someone sees your ad, they are
already in the market for your product or service.
Yellow page ads need to be benefits-driven, with your
Unique Selling Proposition (USP) stated clearly and
boldly (remember, this is the one place where your
101 Ways To Promote Your Business For Maximum Profits
prospects will see your ad alongside all of your
competitors). You want your ad to stand out from the
clutter. Use a direct response type of ad, and again,
free gifts or premiums work well here.
Gary Halbert has written about yellow pages several
times in his newsletter. To find them easily, just enter
the following search at Google:
site:thegaryhalbertletter.com +”yellow page”
Another great resource that JP Maroney recommends is
Alan Saltz’s course on the subject, available at
http://www.yellowpagesprofit.com
A great thread on this topic can also be found on Michel
Fortin’s forum at:
http://www.copywritersboard.com/viewtopic.php?t=16
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5) Space Ads – If you’re going to do a space ad, it will
generally get better results if you use the same layout
as the editorials. Use the same font styles and sizes for
the headline, body, etc. If the newspaper uses 2
columns per article on the page your ad will appear,
use 2 columns in your ad. If they use 3 columns, you
use 3. The “advertorial” approach almost always does
better than traditional space ads that scream “ad.”
A great way to get very low costs space ads is to use
what’s known as remnant, or standby advertising.
Enter the following search in Google to see what I
mean and to learn more:
site:thegaryhalbertletter.com +”Nancy Jones”
And you’ll learn to experiment in many creative ways to
find out what works for you. A local advertising paper,
101 Ways To Promote Your Business For Maximum Profits
the Rare Reminder here in the Hartford area, has
classified ads and space ads. But I noticed that one
“stone and mulch” company has their space ad
featured upside-down in every weekly issue. At first I
thought it was a mistake. But after seeing it upsidedown week after week, I suspected they found that
their upside-down ad stands out from the clutter.
People think it’s a mistake and read it. Yes, it’s a
gimmick. Would I do it? Only if it tested positively. And
maybe it has for these folks. Food for thought.
6) Radio/TV/Infomercials – You might be surprised
how inexpensive you can get these types of slots,
especially if you use remnant advertising. Study the
best infomercials, for example (the ones you see over
and over again…they must be working or they wouldn’t
keep airing them), to get some ideas on how they are
constructed.
7) Flyers – Who says you can’t hire a high school student
to stuff mailboxes or stick ‘em under windshields?
Obviously if you are selling a high-priced financial
course, it would be better to target the windshields of a
fancy hotel than your local Wal-Mart. And I believe the
US Postal Service also prints them for you like they do
postcards if you want to mail them. Check out
http://www.usps.com
8) Networking – Your local Chamber of Commerce, trade
shows, seminars, and anywhere your prospects hang
out are all good opportunities for networking. In many
cases, the hotel bar the night before the seminar is the
best opportunity for making contacts. It’s usually more
effective to try to capture contacts and leads than to
try to close a sale on the spot, so get your elevator
speech ready and have plenty of business cards on
hand.
101 Ways To Promote Your Business For Maximum Profits
9) Telemarketing – Remember the “Do Not Call” list only
applies to consumers, so if you do any kind of business
to business selling, telemarketing is a viable marketing
method you can use effectively. Also, the “Do Not Call”
list may not apply to you with your customers or if you
already have a relationship with your prospects.
10) A Trade Show Booth – A great place to capture
leads. Again, a free report or gift does wonders. When
you get a long line waiting at your booth, many people
will stop by just to see what the fuss is about. Make
your sales materials and sales people benefit-driven.
Remember what your prospects are thinking: “What’s
in it for me?”
