Browsing online forums I am continually reminded that there are many people who believe the internet is the be-all-end-all medium for their business.

That may be the case for them. I suspect that kind of thinking is also at least partially responsible for the large numbers of people not making any money online either.

Sometimes you have to suck it up and get away from the computer. Get outside and promote yourself and your products.

This can be uncomfortable. I remember my first attempts at selling and marketing my own products over the telephone and in face-to-face situations. The hardest part was taking the first step.

After that, it became kind of  a game. Just like working online I had to figure out where the qualified leads were, figure out what they wanted, and express to those leads how my products would solve their greatest problems better than anyone elses.

In person and telesales gave me valuable insights that I could use to improve my online business. I also learned some other ways to generate leads and use offline marketing to drive customers to my website cheaply.

Five offline ways to drive your online business:

1. Good ol flyers. After you have tested you ads online and know what works you can then put those ads in print. You can put several of them on a page, print several pages, cut them up, and then hire someone to place them under car windshield wipers in shopping malls or other places.. This can work well depending on the product.
2. Get on the phone. Put a phone number field in some of your landing page opt-in forms. You will probably get fewer opt-ins but the ones you do get will probably be warmer leads. Call and close them over the phone.
3. Get some public speaking gigs. There are many non-profit clubs who use guest speakers every week such as the Kiwanis, Rotary Club, Lions, and Chamber of Commerce.
4. Hold a seminar or workshop. This won’t work for every product but it can work very well if you are in a popular niche that people are always interested in like mortgages, credit repair, internet marketing, personal development.
5. Do trade shows, county fairs, and street fairs. These can be great if you have products that people can touch or smell. Beauty products always seem to do good at these events. If you are in an information business you can still drive leads and sales through these events but you will have to be more creative.

I know last time I said I would give you 10 ways to drive you traffic online. I’ll get to that. I just thought I would give you something everyone else in the online business world isn’t saying much about.

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