subject: Because We Have Real Lives, Too: Offline Ways To Complement Internet Marketing [print this page] The World Wide Web has turned into another universe altogether, and one that does not necessarily complement or imitate the real world. Online, people can pretend to be younger or older than they really are; they can pretend to be taller or smaller, thinner or larger, blonde or dark-haired; they can even pretend to know something they can hardly put a finger on. Online, people can have their own homes in the form of websites, their own friends in the form of forums, and their own fates in the forms of being booted out or welcomed into online groups.
The online world has also allowed people to earn more money and increase their popularity without doing more than clicking their mouse. For instance, people can easily design their own website, upload it, and add links to affiliate programs. If visitors to the website click on these links, the website owner and designer can earn money. Such commission-related programs are highly lucrative to people who have attractive sites that are easy to navigate and informative at the same time.
The online arena, however, is not the only place to carry out marketing in todays highly wired world. The real world is still the place for advertisements and spreading the word, whether it is about ones website, products, or services. You can have your website, along with your groups and forums, your mailing list, your online catalog, and your clickable ads. This does not exempt you from doing real world marketing, which you can carry out using the following techniques.
Do not be afraid to learn more and do a bit of real walking. The ease of the Internet can often keep us glued to our seats, one hand on the mouse, and eyes fixed to the computer screen. This does not substitute for human interaction, so if you are seeking to make connections, you have to make your way to places where real flesh-and-blood people live and breathe. Attend conferences or symposia related to your field, and bring a business card along with you. Be confident: introduce yourself to people, ask questions, and strike up real conversations.
Your business card also has to speak well of you: put in your full name and all your contact details, along with your website address. Forget about cutesy illustrations or cartoons, and eschew anything that can detract attention away from your business. If you must put in designs, make sure that they are related to your website, product, or service, and that your card still appears professional.
As the adage goes, interested is interesting, so if you want to market yourself, then ask people questions first. While attending conferences and symposia, inquire about peoples interests. This can give you a better glimpse of what your market is like, and it can earn you friends faster. Your goal in offline marketing is to get people to know that you care, and, in so doing, allow them to be more curious about what you have to offer.
Choose what symposia you can attend, and as much as possible, attend workshops to improve your craft. Whether you are into web design, graphic design, writing, pottery, acting, singing, or drama, you can succeed more if you are better at what you do. Workshops will give you the chance to not only perform better, but get more connections and build your network as well. When at workshops, share what you know, but keep the arrogance level down: you need to appear that you want to help out, not dominate any conversation or lecture.
Take the activities of your online groups and forums online, and conduct activities related to your field. For instance, if you are part of a writing group, organize a writing day or poetry reading so that you can meet fellow group members. If you are a web designer, on the other hand, you can get your group members together for a workshop at which all of you can share your design ideas. There are thousands of possibilities for activities, but the goal is the same: get off the web and meet each other, and you can see your plans unfolding faster.
There are still many ways to carry out offline marketing to complement your online marketing efforts. The traditional methods of handing out business cards or distributing catalogs have not yet died. Posters and flyers are still in vogue, so dont be afraid to give them away. Lastly, know your marketing goals: if you know what you want to do, and you have all the motivation to learn and earn more, you can find your own ways to make your real life voice heard above the real life crowd.
