The internet is a great place for any blogger to promote their blog but in doing so you are competing with thousands of others just like you. As a blogger, you exist in a technological world that is forever changing and you must always be proactive. Taking your marketing offline will allow you to tap into a market that a lot of bloggers are forgetting about. You can expand your followers and promote you blog to a local audience by following a few of these tips.
1. Networking Groups
Join a local business group that gets together weekly. Here you will meet business owners from the local area and the whole point of these groups is to then go out into the wider community and promote each other. Don’t forget to bring along your business cards to hand out to everyone attending, word of mouth is still one of the best ways to advertise.
2. Sponsor an Event
By choosing to sponsor an event that relates to your blog, you will be reaching your target audience on mass. Whether it is your local football team or a one off event, you can display your blog and it’s details via banners, posters and t shirts, therefore reaching a large audience immediately. You’ll probably find that within a few minutes of your url details being seen, you’ll have traffic to your site.
3. Printed Material
Get back to basics and have some flyers and stickers designed with your blog url, logo and slogan. Depending on what your market is, you could give them out at schools, sporting events or your local shopping centre. Your recipients will be able to take your printed material away with them for a long lasting impression.
4. Friends & Family
Your friends can give you the most wide spread marketing for your blog and at no cost at all. Make it a point to tell them all about what you do and what your blog url is. Ask them to tell their friends and family about it and so on. It is amazing how quickly word spreads and before you know it, you will have 100’s of new readers and it didn’t cost you a cent in marketing fees.
5. Freebies
Everyone loves a free gift. Whether it’s a pen, USB memory stick, water bottle or coffee mug, give away something that a household will use frequently and be constantly reminded of your blog. This will promote awareness within the community. Visit Vistaprint for a cost effective place to have all of your premiums printed.
Don’t get stuck in a rut when marketing your blog. Diversify your audience by using these offline tactics to reach a broader audience. Bloggers tend to overlook their offline promotional avenues but it is a great way to attract a new group of readers.
Written by Marney Atkins-Smith