10 Offline Ways to Promote Your Blog Site
Aug 7th, 2007 by Kirby
After long thought and deep concentration I figured i would once again travel the alternative road and instead of repeating the same ‘5 or 10 things to do when you don’t feel like blogging,’ (because most posts are all carbon copies of each other just the tips are randomized throughout the post) I thought i would try to take it a step further and discuss creative ways to market your blog offline.
Let’s face it, if you are planning to pull in $40k a year or month from your blog site then you need to get creative and cranking out those ideas (So once again grab your pads). Let me jump start your train of thought and guide you through.
Creative Ways to Promote Your Blog Site Offline
I’m not saying that i have all of the answers for your particular blog site nor am i saying that all of my ideas are 100% original (there are far too many blogs for me keep up with) I’m sure that some are currently using them as i type and as you read. Let’s begin…
1. Make an active wear jacket with your logo on it
Think about this… not everyone has a t-shirt sporting their blog site, but should consider it. Take a look at Jeremy ‘Shoe money‘ Schoemaker. Every time you see Jeremy’s face in a picture you can’t help but to notice the big ‘$’ (Shoe Money logo) on his chest (he does this very well).
However, why not take a step further and just have an active wear jacket made to sport your logo? Depending on where you live I would say that you are probably going to sport your jacket around more than your t-shirt.
Regardless, If you were to take after Jeremy and sport your ‘logo’ on your chest why not capture the crowd behind you as well?
2. Sponsor a Local Startup
Depending on where you live (once again) there are mom and pop shops and small businesses that celebrate store openings on a regular basis that get a fair amount of local publicity or in some cases on a national scale.
3. Sponsor a Local Event
Discover the love of your town and try your best to become a sponsor for that event. In most cases, big events will cost you and if money is an issue then get creative. Try to sponsor an event that is relevant to your blog site niche.
4. Deal with the Local Printers
Contact your local printing companies and ask for them to refer customers to you that are searching for advertisers for their banners or t-shirts. Most printers will cut the cost of a t-shirt order if they are allowed to place their logos on the shirts. Get in the door the proper way by making good with the printers first so that when customers ask for recommendations the printers will do the work for you and refer them to your site via your email address.
Like everyone out there, when you receive an email address with a domain not linked to a free email account you can’t help but to check it out and visit the site. Well, like magic your printer friend just delivered some free traffic to your blog site. Even if they don’t use the email address to contact you but they visit your site and become frequents, or maybe purchase your product or an affiliate product then you just made a great return for your time spent.
5. Sponsor a Furry Friend
If you have a blog site about cats or dogs, even ferrets or Chinchillas then sponsor a furry friend and work with your local Humane Society in order to find a caring owner for the pet. The Humane Society gets a ton of publicity and recognition on a national scale. Offer to take the grunt work off of their hands and screen potential pet owners or market a pet online.
As long as it fits your niche then you should be good to go. Don’t contact the Humane Society if you operate a blog about technology. It’s just not right…
6. Support Your Local Athletes
I did this recently and received a great return on my investment and a real positive response to one of my online shops and figure this would work great for a blog site. Not to mention the positive publicity and feedback that the site would receive.
I have a friend of mine who loves to run, so without thought i hopped on the chance to sponsor her with terms. She had to wear at least one item with my shop name and domain on it (of course it was readable). So eventually she entered the Breast Cancer Walk, and random races throughout the state, and didn’t do too shabby by the way.
Keep in mind my shop had nothing to do with sports or health.
7. From Electronic to Print
Create a short news paper or magazine highlighting your popular monthly posts and take it to local spots (billiards, pubs, restaurants, grocery stores, ect.) and ask to utilize some small space for your ‘free’ news paper. I stress ‘FREE’ because most establishments will expect a piece of your profits if you charge.
Better yet just offer to post a coupon in your news paper/ magazine in exchange for the space. Most establishments will be willing to work with you in exchange for the advertisements. You can even take it a step further and offer to place coupons online at your site (only after you have researched how many of your visitors are local).
8. Host a BIG Giveaway
Host a big giveaway at your local radio station and submit a press release (only after the station agrees to air it or sponsor it). Imagine the juice this will bring to your site and if you are lucky the station may even link to your site.
Now when i say big, i mean BIG, something that is news worthy. You may even, once again, get national publicity depending on what your giveaway is. Host an auction to give away an expensive item, a hard to get item, or yourself for half a day or for a dinner date and get the local radio station to follow you on your date and record the whole thing for their site.
Obtain a free copy of the video and get the rights to post it on YouTube and every other video site including your blog site with the story attached.
9. Make and Distribute Doorknob hangers
Never put fliers on people’s cars. Most people hate that and will never respect you, your site or your company. Instead make doorknob hangers and distribute them at your local college/ university (with permission to avoid trouble or if you are fast enough then…). One weekend, one Saturday can do wonders to your traffic and affiliate sales.
10. Wrap Your Vehicle… ok maybe just Get a Static or Magnet Vehicle Sign
Do you drive a lot? Or know someone who does? Then get them to sport your blog site domain on their vehicle. I do this with my shop network and the return was great. I paid for the cost of four signs and then some within 24hrs of placing them on active vehicles including my own.
So there you have it… 10 Offline Ways to Promote your Blog Site. Granted some of the above mentioned tips will cost you money but then again with creative thinking you can build solid relationships that in the long run will be worth their weight in gold.
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While I’m not sure this entire 10 list will work, I will say that the idea of convergence (social media and traditonal communication/grass roots) is right on the money. Some good ideas for a lot of bloggers to consider.
Keep it up. Best, Rich
LOve the great ideas of advertising offline,never thought of that!!
Great site
I will link you up
Thanx
Steven
I thought of something else. Use body paint, and write the url to your website all over your body, and streak a popular sporting event. It’ll be a cheap way to get the “Goldenpalace.com” effect.
I’ve thought about creating a bumper sticker, t-shirt or baby t-shirt with my domains. Haha…I love the body paint idea.
Well… thx for your advice… but still, I’m not seeing any improvment regarding the hits of my blog…?
Cheers,
Bill
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