by Scott McIntyre

Last week, I suggested a few practical methods and communication channels that you might use to promote your blog offline. I was pleased to read in your comments that many of you are trying these technques to achieve great results for your online businesses.

As a number of you are already finding, promotional activities such as talking to local organizations, advertising in offline media, and the use of Press Releases and branded goods can effectively contribute to getting your message in front of the offline customer.

But why would you consider doing this in the first place?

Today, I would like to explore several reasons why it can be of great benefit to build an awareness of your blog in the offline marketplace.

Building Awareness of Your Blog Offline: What are the Benefits?

There are two direct benefits that can be realized by extending the reach of your blog beyond the blogosphere: 1) to enhance your own personal reputation within your niche industry and 2) to increase the visibility of your blog’s brand to the wider offline community.

Both of these positive benefits can be achieved through promoting your blog offline.

Brand Building Through Offline Promotion

• Building your personal brand

  It can be a highly profitable business aim to develop a strong name for yourself offline within your specific industry sector.

  Having a presence online provides a valuable launchpad from which to gain publicity for yourself offline. It is an effective means of making a respected name for yourself amongst your peers, and to seize the opportunities that exist from tapping into the offline customer base.

  I can guess that not all of your competitors have a blog or website yet. If you do, then you are already ahead of them when it comes to attracting your target audience. You have somewhere to bring them back to in order to win them over to your products or services.

  To build your personal brand offline, it is necessary to get people talking about you in a manner which is in line with your business strategy. Ideally, you want to be seen as the ‘go to’ person in your niche.

  By offering first-class advice and by providing useful information and resources to the offline audience, they are likely to view you as the authority figure within your industry. When you achieve this position, you are well placed to leverage it to capture their attention and interest in your blog.

  Personal branding through offline promotion, however, may not be right for every blogger. You may have opted to write under a pseudonym or else prefer to maintain a degree of anonymity.

  There are many reasons why this is a valid approach. If this applies to you, it would be great to hear your views in the comments section.

• Building your blog brand

  You can work on developing your own personal brand offline safe in the knowledge that you have a quality blog waiting ‘back home’.

  A quality blog can mean many things. Valuable content is crucial, as is having a good design, ease of use and accessibility. All of these factors contribute to whether your efforts to build a brand for your blog offline will be a success.

  If you can foster a sense of trust and respect for your blog’s offering through your offline promotional activities, it will lead to customers being willing to use your products or services.

  Blogs provide a tremendous opportunity to interact with your audience. A blog can help to create mutually beneficial relationships between you and your customers. Satisfied customers indulge in positive word-of-mouth recommendations, and this inevitably leads to a buzz about your business offline.

  A blog which does not aim to be a quality offering will likely not impress or enhance its reputation with these potential customers.

  When offline personal reputation building is combined with that of developing your blog’s brand, the benefits can be immense for your online business as a whole. The skill is to effectively engage in promotional activities which achieve each separate goal while, at the same time, are supportive of each other’s aims.

Next week, I will be considering some of the ways in which you can use the increasingly popular social media and social networking sites as valuable channels to engage with the offline customer.

If you’re a blogger, leave a comment to let me know of your experiences in promoting both yourself and your blog offline. What results have you achieved? If you’re a blogger who isn’t yet engaged in offline promotion, what questions do you have regarding how to go about it?

If you’re a non-blogger, tell them what they can do to attract your interest in both them and their blog.

–Scott McIntyre

Related
Week 1: Connecting with the Offline Customer: A Non-Blogger’s Perspective
Week 2: Targeting the Offline Customer: Do You Blog for Non-Bloggers?
Week 3: Reaching the Offline Customer: Do You Promote Your Blog Offline?

by Scott McIntyre

Last week, I shared with you my thoughts on how the nature of your online business will influence any decisions you make as to whether you might consider targeting offline customers. Some of you commented that you are already using a range of techniques to spread your message to the world beyond the blogosphere.

Today, I want to look at some of the practical methods and communication channels you can use to promote your blog, or website, offline. Many of you are likely using some of the methods, while others may want to try the most suitable ideas as new ways for you to reach the offline market segment.

Promoting Your Blog Offline: What are the Benefits?

There are still many people who either a) don’t use the internet regularly, b) have never read a blog, or c) don’t blog themselves. When combined, these groups constitute a sizeable target market.

To connect effectively with these potential customers, it is necessary to engage in some form of offline promotional activity. If your goal is to attract these people back to your blog, then you first need to take your blog to them.

The following list of communication methods is by no means exhaustive. There may be additional ones you are currently using.

If so, it would be great to learn of them in the comments section.

Offline Promotion Methods

• Your current network

  You probably have family, friends, and colleagues who either don’t read blogs or are not bloggers themselves. Have you shown them your blog? Often, your best customers are right there beside you now and these folk can become loyal customers or enthusiastic advocates on your behalf.

  There is no more effective marketing tool than positive word of mouth when it is backed up by your quality product or service.

• Talk to local organizations

  There will, no doubt, be organizations in your locality with an interest in what you have to say. Examples might include charities, church groups, Chambers of Commerce etc.

  In my experience, these groups are keen to attract a variety of guest speakers to their meetings. If you are invited to address such a gathering, you can introduce your business to them (not by ‘hard selling’), and also distribute take away literature, like flyers and brochures, which carry your website contact details.

• Advertising in offline media

  While advertising may be financially out of the question for a lot of smaller online businesses, properly targeted local media campaigns can prove highly effective.

  If you have the resources, local television and radio advertising can provide a good way of getting your message seen and heard by customers in your neighborhood.

  It may also not be feasible for you to take out full page ads in newspapers and magazines. However, a first step might be to run a small advert in the classified section of your local newspaper.

• Press Releases

  Another method of interacting with the media is through the use of a Press Release.

  Industry publications and local newspapers are always on the lookout for news stories that are of interest to their readership- who might also be your potential customers. By writing a good quality Press Release, which is both newsworthy and focuses on your business at the same time, your message can be conveyed more effectively than advertising.

  In these cases, your Press Release stands a better chance of being picked up if you have cultivated a relationship with the reporter or editor beforehand.

• Company literature

  In the daily running of your business, I’m sure you use many types of documents such as letters, envelopes, compliment slips, invoices, fax sheets, product packaging, business cards, etc.

  It is important that your URL features on all printed material you issue as this is a cheap and ready made way of attracting visitors to your website.

• Branded goods

  Many businesses find it useful to develop a range of supporting merchandise which carry their website address. Often, these items are given away free or as prizes in contests.

  Examples of such items include: calendars, pens, pencils, mouse mats, coffee mugs, Christmas cards, t-shirts, bumper stickers, badges etc. The list is endless!

  The key to selecting merchandise which is effective as part of your offline promotional activity is to ensure that the products are of high quality and consistent with your brand. This method works because the items get your website URL out into the real world and in front of the eyes of your potential customers.

There is, of course, an initial cost to produce these items, but they can prove an effective communication tool.

The promotional activities I have described above are only a small selection of the methods which can form the basis of an effective offline promotional campaign.

If you’re a blogger, leave a comment to let me know what offline promotional methods you are using? What are your experiences of these methods? If you’re a blogger who hasn’t yet engaged in offline promotion, which of the methods might suit your business?

If you’re a non-blogger, tell them how they can get your attention offline.

Week 1: Connecting with the Offline Customer: A Non-Blogger’s Perspective
Week 2: Targeting the Offline Customer: Do You Blog for Non-Bloggers?

by Scott McIntyre

It is a little daunting to be out here for the first time, writing in front of you all. But I’m not too nervous because I know that you’re friendly folk. You see, I’ve been waiting around these parts for a few months now, watching what’s been going on with great interest. I’ve mostly remained in the background, only once or twice venturing out into the open space of the comments section.

Then, one day, Liz posed a question on the search for the non-blogging customer, and I just couldn’t stop myself — I bolted from the sidelines and let my presence be known. At last, I had something to add to the conversation! This was an issue that I knew about first hand — for I am one of that apparently rare breed — the avid blog reader without a blog.

When Liz invited me to share with you my non-blogging perspective on the blogosphere, I readily and gratefully accepted. While exploring many blogs, I have studied both the ‘art’, as well as the ‘technical’, aspects of blogging.

I have educated myself on the often bewildering, unique features of blogs. I can speak the lingo — I know what a ‘post’ is, I can explain ‘RSS’ and the benefits of ‘subscribing’. Heck, I even get what a ‘trackback’ is!

It’s been rewarding to spend time browsing and stumbling through a diverse variety of web pages as part of my active use of Social Media . . . and I’ve done this without the vehicle of a blog.

Over the coming weeks, I’d like to pass on my observations

• to help you identify issues associated with targetting offline customers
• and to offer suggestions on methods you can use to connect effectively with this group.

Together, we will highlight the challenges involved in finding and attracting the non-blogger back to an online business and find solutions for success.

But, first, let me explain on how I became such a passionate advocate of blogs.

Discovering The Blogosphere: My Journey Begins

Though I’ve always been a keen Internet user, I only clicked on my first weblog in March, earlier this year. Ironically, my introduction to the blogosphere wasn’t by way of a gentle, general interest blog but via the ultimate in “How to Blogs” — problogger.

I was fascinated to read Darren’s clear explanations and advice on blogging, and those of his readers. The more I delved into his archives, the more I realised the tremendous value of blogs. It was like finding a never ending supply of constantly updated magazines, delivered daily to the letterbox of my feed reader.

The biggest revelation was to witness how the audience is able to interact with the blogger, and with each other, through the community of the comments section. By doing so, readers are shaping and influencing the very content itself. I soon went searching for countless other blogs, subscribing to many as I went.

Certain blogs have made my experience easier to our mutual benefit. For example, I am more likely to hang around, or sign up to, a blog that has

• a user-friendly design,
• first class content,
• a lively comments section,
• and other elements which embrace all readers — bloggers or not.

It is clear that Liz works hard to ensure that the S.O.B. community here is accessible to everyone regardless of their familiarity with blog ‘netiquette’. That’s the reason why I felt compelled to contribute in the first place.

Back then, little did I realise how enthusiastic I would become about this dynamic medium, and by how much I would want to learn about the ‘mechanics’ of blogging. Nor could I ever have anticipated how strong my desire would be to encourage as many other non-bloggers as possible to discover blogs for themselves.

Why Don’t I Blog?

After espousing the brilliance of blogs, you might reasonably ask why I don’t blog myself. It’s a valid question. The more I read blogs and see their potential, the more I am drawn to becoming an active participant as a means of expressing myself. It just hasn’t happened yet.

In many ways, the very fact that I am writing this post today is a novel idea on Liz’s part. Usually, only bloggers do guest posts.

The best analogy I can use to describe my interest in blogs is to compare it to that of an automobile fan who can drive, but doesn’t yet possess their own automobile. There’s no reason why he or she, can’t become au fait with how a classic engine works or travel round automobile shows, admiring the gleaming models on display.

Just as you don’t have to write for, or own, a magazine to be able to read one, you don’t actually have to be a blogger to enjoy browsing through blogs.

I’m Scott McIntyre. I’m an avid blog reader without a blog.

If you’re a non-blogging reader, leave a comment to let me know you’re out there. If you’re a blogger, what advice do you have for non-bloggers, who want to be part of your blog?
–Scott

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Scott is a freelance writer based in Scotland, who only recently discovered the wonders of the blogosphere. A former policy manager with the Scottish Government, his background is in business and Human Resource Management. Scott’s interest in writing developed when, at the age of just 15 and still at school, he edited and wrote for a newspaper column. He is on a personal mission to live a colorful life, and to write about it along the way. You can find out more at LinkedIn, or be one of the first to follow Scott on Twitter.