OFFLINE BLOG PROMOTION STRATEGIES MYSTIFIED-- PART 3

In this post I’ll be concluding my mini-series on the topic of offline blog promotion. Before you get into this last series of tips you might also want to check out Part 1 and Part 2

10. Workshops and Teaching Opportunities – this is something I experimented with in the early days of my blog (with some success). I noticed that my local library was advertising free community workshops in the evenings. The topics being covered were very diverse and ranged from a night for people wanting to visit Morocco (I remember that because at the time we were planning a trip), to a night on how to use email for seniors, to a night on parenting skills.

After attending the Moroccan travel evening I asked the librarian if they were looking for other workshops. She said yes and I booked myself in to run a night introducing people to how to use a digital camera. The night was attended by 50 people – all of whom went away with training materials with my blog’s URL all over them.

Similarly, many organizations like to feature speakers with expertise on different topics. Keep an eye open for these opportunities and while they might not always ‘pay’ you anything financially most will be willing to allow you to promote your blog.

11. Advertise – the idea of advertising your blog online is not unfamiliar to many bloggers who dabble with Advertising on AdWords, StumbleUpon, Facebook, BlogAds etc – however I talked to one blogger recently who had been experimenting with advertising offline.

He had been taking out classified ads in local papers. He’d used a unique URL in these ads so he could track the conversion and had found that it had been well worth the time and money that he’d put into these campaigns.

12. Notice boards – another tactic that I saw recently in a local cafe was to put up notices in public places. Many cafes, libraries, shops and community centers allow people to advertise services and events on notice boards – why not put up something about your blog? This of course will probably work best for blogs with a local focus – but if you target the places right you could also appeal to certain demographics.

13. Talk About It – many people like to keep their blog’s private from friends and family. However those that know you best could well be your best evangelists for your blog! Don’t go on about it all of the time but unless you’re giving away family secrets and blogging about the conversations you have with your best friends – let those around you know about your blog!

These were some good points we had to keep in mind because of increasing competition and I hope you also benefit from them.

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OFFLINE BLOG PROMOTION STRATEGIES MYSTIFIED-- PART 2

In this post I discuss techniques 5-9 for offline blog promotion strategies.You can read 1-4 from part 1.

5. Go Postal

One morning a good blogger went to his PO Box to find that inside it was a rather large parcel. Inside was two things – a book and a T-shirt. He didn't know the name of the person who sent them to him but on the accompanying business card and note was the name and URL of a blog which he checked out later on that day.

Promoting yourself to other bloggers can be effective but many of them are being ‘pitched’ with ideas all day everyday. Sometimes to break the ‘virtual’ zombie like state that these pitches can leave people in it can be effective to send them something physical.

This need not be expensive things (although they could be). Over the last year I’ve been sent quite a few things including T-shirts, hats, books, ipod shuffles, electronic picture frames, birthday cards (many), memory cards, letters, USB memory sticks, trophies (for awards), food, diet supplements…. etc.

6. Mainstream Media Exposure

In the same way that you as a blogger are often left scratching your head wondering what topics to cover on your blog, mainstream media outlets (TV, Radio, newspapers, magazines) are always on the lookout for story ideas to cover.

Why not pitch them with a story idea about you and your blog?

This doesn’t always work but I’m always surprised by just how many of my own ‘pitches’ to mainstream media have worked.

The key with this is to give an angle for the media outlet to work with. Don’t just contact them saying that you’d like them to write about your blog – contact them with something that is story worthy. This takes a little work and at times creativity – but put your mind to work and see what you find.

Don’t just pitch big media outlets – put feelers out to local, national and international ones. When you get a nibble, develop a relationship with the journalist so that if a future story idea comes to mind you can develop that contact.

Sometimes these relationships can even develop into ongoing relationships. I’ve seen a few bloggers negotiate regular columns or ‘expert spots’ on radio. Similarly once you get known to journalists they begin to seek you out for quotes on stories.

7. Internet Cafes

I met one blogger a year back who had a blog with a very local focus. He negotiated deals with three local internet cafes in his area to make his blog the home page on all of the computers. In return for this he gave them some free advertising on his blog.

In a similar way the blogger made a similar deal with the local library who also made his blog the home page of their public internet computers.

This worked well for him because he had a local focus but it could work for blogs of all shapes and sizes.

8. T-shirts

Getting T-shirts printed up that promote your blog can be useful in a number of ways. For starters and as mentioned already, wearing a T-shirt can can reinforce your brand (and promote it) at conferences or meetups. You’ll be amazed at the conversations that wearing a T-shirt with your name and URL can open up.

Secondly, giving T-shirts away to readers can also have an impact both on them and their networks. I saw this at SXSW earlier in the year when I spied one of my readers wearing a ProBlogger T-shirt. He told me that he’d had a lot of people come up to him as a result of seeing the T-shirt.

9. Offline Publications

Many bloggers are protective about allowing their content to be republished but I feel that good bloggers should give it a go. One such incident that made me a loyal reader of a blog is that a person someday asked a good friend of mine to publish his articles in his monthly magazine on upcoming trends in bollywood and new faces.He decided to let them publish that for free that post.Many of whom decided to check out the source of the post became loyal readers of the blog

Magazines and newspapers are often on the look out for people to submit articles to them and will usually give a byline as part of their payment for the article. You’ve got the content just sitting there on your blog, why not submit some of it to an offline media outlet?

Stay tuned for one last post on the topic of offline blog promotion which will include 4 more of my strategies plus 7 from my readers.

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OFFLINE BLOG PROMOTION STRATEGIES MYSTIFIED-- PART 1

Its possible to promote one's blog offline.To do that follow the following suggested steps carefully

1. Conferences and Conventions

One of the first times I learned about the power in attending conferences was in 2009. I had no idea what to expect and had little time to prepare but decided to head up and see what I could learn.On arrival I wasn't expecting much but quickly found that the convention center was literally packed with opportunities on many levels, including finding new readers for my blog. Everyone at that convention was there because they had an interest in photography – so it made sense for me to position myself at this real life event.

Interestingly there was one other photography site represented at the event. I got chatting to them at one point and we marveled at how few of our competitors were there and how we’d struck gold by attending.

If there is a conference that relates to your topic that you have the ability to attend, do everything in your power to get there. When there, be bold, have something to promote your site (cards for starters), have something to say about your site (an elevator pitch), make friends and get them to introduce you to their contacts and be ready to make the most of every opportunity that might arise.

2. Business Cards

This is perhaps one of the more obvious tips that I’ll give today but a business card is essential if you’re going to do offline promotions. They are great for conferences, meetups, promoting to friends etc.

One thing I’ve learned about business cards is that if you can make them stand out in some way you can really grab people’s attention and open up doors to talk about yourself and your blog.Make sure your card has not only your contact details but where people can connect with you online (email, blog URL (and name), twitter etc).Get plenty of cards printed up and give them out freely.

3. Blogger Meet ups

Is there a local network of bloggers in your area? If so, make sure you connect with them and attend their events.Each time I’ve attended a blogger meetup I’ve come away with lots of great new contacts and potential promoters of my blogs. The great thing about bloggers is that they have readers already and if you can find ways to promote what each other does you can really see your readership grow.

Of course finding readers with a similar topic to yours is best – but even promoting across different niches can at times work if you find natural ways to do so.

4. Stickers

A couple of years ago I saw the power of stickers to promote a blog. One blogger showed up at the meet up (I don’t remember who they were) and instead of giving business cards gave out stickers.

Of course as the night progressed the stickers ended up being ’stuck’ on people. In fact during the night the stickers became one of the ‘features’ of the night. They appeared in loads of photos and even got mentioned in blog reviews of the evening.

In my next two posts I want to continue the focus upon offline blog promotion and will share another 9 techniques from my blog promotion tool belt as well as a number of tips from other bloggers. Stay tuned for part 2 and 3 of this series.

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