Offline Blog Promotion Techniques

Darren, I want to see your business card :)

I split my time between Honolulu and Tokyo and blog about the latter. While analyzing my stats I realized that a good portion of traffic was coming out of Hawaii so I sent off a note to the travel editor at the local paper to let her know that a local resident was living in Tokyo and blogging about the experience. I also offered her any assistance that she may require on the ground in Tokyo. A few weeks later I was got a small plug in the travel section which resulted in increased traffic.

It took a bit of guts to send of the initial email but it was well worth the effort. While travel is my niche I’m confident that this approach would work with other subjects areas as well.

I wish I could promote my blog at the movie theatre, which is where I work and blog about! I think it might be against company policy though. :-(

Great tips, Darren. I especially like the idea of a blogger gathering for your community. So many of us only think of out “virtual” existence and fail to connect with people as people (yes, myself included). Holding a mini-conference to meet other bloggers and potentially meet people interested in the field and to provide them with some insights, seems like a great way to promote your business and to learn from the experience of others.

There are a few inexpensive and creative things you can to do promote your site in the analog world…

Build a free CafePress storefront and create a line of merchandise with your custom logo and/or designs – and URL, of course! I used this to whip up a 2Dolphins-branded bumper sticker for my car, a couple of t-shirts for friends, a baseball cap for myself, and even a onesie jumper for one of my buddies whose wife just had a baby. I’ve considered splurging on a few t-shirts & caps to use as contest giveaways on the blog…

Also, my wife created some custom return address labels with our website URL for use anytime we snail mail stuff – even bills. This is especially effective around holiday time when we send out a large batch of greeting cards.

Also remember to jam those business cards you had printed onto every bulletin board or community message board you come across. And we stick a business card inside any package we ship – like stuff we sell (occasionally) on eBay.

Be mindful that when you promoting your site to offline folks, you’re likely to have very inexperienced web-surfers showing up at your door. Plan accordingly! Make certain that you have provided ample means for these folks to reach you with a contact form, email links or whatever. And make sure you have an “About” page that will really sell you or give these new visitors some reason to add you to their list of regular reads. And lastly, revisit your 404 page to ensure that it’s as helpful as possible.

Thanks Darren — reading it made me appreciate my card even more (designed and created by a definite non- figure skater so kind of ironic). I may need to rethink my logo for Lifeskate – “for the addiction to ice” because the card printer thought I was selling drugs. Then again, I think he was on drugs so I’ll discount his reaction.

Darren,

Bumper sticker – here I come!

Yep Make Cards and display them on public places to tell what your blog is all about..There many service which can print your cards for free…

You certainly caught my attention with the headline of your article.

Of all your suggestions, only one seems quite far-fetched to me. That was the suggestion that blogger meeting should be conducted.

However, when I ponder this, I wonder how feasible it would be? Considering the geographical differences of most blog surfers, a bloggers meeting, unless its virtual, seems a bit impossible.

Rick, I think you established a really valid point that should be considered.

I certainly tend to think more virtual….however, I venture to guess that I would be pleasantly surprised by the impact and interest that people, real people, could have as well.

Thanks for making me see and consider issues that are well out of the box.