Joseph Ratliff asked:


We live in a world of borders, don’t we?

There is a border between the USA and Canada…between the USA and Mexico…and so forth. Yet we continue as a society to visit both of those countries all the time.

So let’s apply this to today’s lesson…

There is a border between an online business and an offline business. This exists because of a variety of factors like the types of products sold, the people who sell them, and other factors.

But should there be a border at all?

Let’s share an example…

An online membership site sells its memberships on the typical “Free, upgrade to silver or platinum membership” model. Upfront, this membership offers a free 50 page report on a niche industry to generate leads through an opt – in page. This membership site offers this report plus the “free” membership with limited benefits.

Then it sells it’s upgraded memberships with all the bells and whistles like business packages specific to the niche industry, audio’s that give the “golden nuggets” of info, and maybe even video to “take you by the hand” and walk you through business improvement techniques.

To market this…the membership site owner might use article marketing, Pay Per Click, forum marketing, etc…

All the online marketing techniques we are familiar with.

But there is a better way, and I suggest you add this methodology to your online marketing model today. Notice I did not say to stop marketing online at all, as all of the aforementioned techniques work great when done correctly.

But the most productive way to market your online business is… offline!

That’s right, offline marketing. Direct mail, newspaper editorial – style advertisements, word of mouth offline, face to face networking, public speaking, print newsletters, etc…

I cannot go into detail about how to use each one of these techniques in this one post…but look for future posts to cover these topics.

But one question that is probably rattling inside your head is…

“Why do these techniques work better than online marketing?”

Well…that answer is multi – part to which I will present three ideas here:

1. Typically, online business owners view the Internet as the end – all of marketing their online business…and it simply isn’t. It is only one media used to market a business.

2. Audience. One example…the majority that read the newspaper do so with a different mindset. They are not the typical freebie – seeking, distracted, multi – tasking (when surfing the ‘net), individual that is using the internet. Instead, they are more focused on what is in front of them.

3. Distraction. I mentioned this in part 2 of my answer, but in detail…there are a number of distractions that present themselves on the Internet that simply are not present when someone is reading the mail, the newspaper, attending a face to face conference (congrats to those online marketers that figured that one out) etc…

There are certainly more reasons in support of offline marketing for your online business. I would encourage you to leave a comment to this post one way or another.

Ronda Tuckness asked:

If you are wondering whether to go with offline marketing or online marketing, the answer is up to you. I would venture to say that many network marketers use a little of each. Both methods can bring promising prospects your way.

Let’s take a look at some of the offline methods first. Leaving business cards, catalogs and brochures at places you frequent; placing a web decal or magnetic sign on your vehicle; newspaper ads; flyers; business stationary; free product samples; wearing apparel that features your company logo; home parties; craft fairs; flea markets; door hangers; postcards.

Online methods can include article marketing; forum participation; online ads; social networking; pay-per-clicks; Google adwords; blogs; purchasing leads; etc.

Each and every method is not listed here, but you get the idea. I believe that every method which gets your business website out there is beneficial. Network marketers will favor some methods over others, but it essentially comes down to you.

You will learn which methods you prefer after a little trial and error. There are a few that I simply detest only because they do not suit my personality. It is important to use the methods that you enjoy and are comfortable with.

If you force yourself to use methods that you don’t like because you think you should or because someone advised you to, that will be a mistake. You will **** every minute of it, and your disdain could cause you to leave your network marketing dream behind.

Your business belongs to you. You should seek advice and counsel from the gurus, but only use what interests you. Any method that gets your name and company to the masses in a positive way is a useful promotion tactic.

Offline marketing or online does not have to be a choice. You can easily use both for favorable results. Some people use online methods exclusively and have no desire to try anything offline. That is certainly their prerogative. However, something as simple as a web decal on their vehicle is seen daily by dozens of people.

Why not employ both methods for maximum effect? I admit that I do not use many offline methods because I truly prefer working online. However, I would not discount anything that appealed to me just because I prefer working online.

The more people that are exposed to your website or your business, the faster things will go. It is all about numbers, or as some would say, “It is a numbers game.” I do get tired of that cliché, but it is true.

So, the bottom line is, “offline or online”, it is all good. Any method that suits your style, used consistently, will produce results.

Adrian Bold asked:

Do you spend a considerable amount of your marketing budget on traditional offline marketing approaches such as radio, television and newspaper advertising? You could be significantly losing out.

Like it or not, the coming of Internet Marketing has sounded the death-knell for traditional methods of marketing and associated advertising. Newspapers are rapidly shedding staff; even the UK’s Channel 4 Television can no longer survive without merging with another channel due to the drop in advertising revenue it had previously relied upon.

So why is offline marketing dying off?

Compare the traditional direct mail marketing technique with online email marketing approaches. Take a sales letter and mail it out to 10,000 people. Add up the cost of stationery and postage, even with discounts for mass postage, you need a good budget. Now compose an email, add your database of 10,000 customers and email it directly to their inbox in less than 10 seconds. The cost is nothing and you essentially require no budget.

Furthermore, recent research indicates that direct mail only generates a 2% response rate; email marketing generates 5 times as much. Offline Marketing cannot compete with these results.

Is it a surprise that traditional offline marketing methods are dying off? Their share of the market shrinking, revenue receding as the online marketing sector grows and takes over the lion’s share of the market?

If we contrast the range of offline marketing, we easily reveal an important weakness in the traditional approach. Offline marketing is limited by geographic location. Newspaper circulation or television/radio broadcasting range limits the effectiveness of the offline marketing campaign. Online marketing campaigns are geographically limitless. If you wish, you can advertise your product or service to millions of people across the entire world.

Broadcast and print advertising has always been expensive, and in their dying days, they still won’t compete with the Internet on cost. Online marketing offers targeted marketing, rather than blanket marketing at a fraction of the cost.

That neatly brings us onto the ability to target your exact customer. Offline advertising can only attempt to do this by hoping enough men are watching football, or women are watching Desperate Housewives. With the online alternative, you can target the very customers that are already looking for your products or services. Again, offline marketing cannot compete with this level of accuracy in finding customers and bringing them to your website.

Using Internet Marketing rapidly reduces the time between a potential customer seeing your marketing and responding to it. Online marketing promotes immediate reaction, generating immediate revenue. Your customer sees your ad. The customer reads your ad, they like what they read, they check the price, and it’s good. They click to add the product to the shopping cart; they fill in their details and click to pay. Within three clicks or so, you’ve made a sale. Traditional marketing methods simply cannot produce these rapid results, or the volume of increased business that they are capable of producing.

Whilst some people will cling on to offline marketing, suspicious of the Internet’s success, their competitors using online marketing are increasing their sales by the hour.