Marketing your blog… offline?

Recently, in press release on PRweb, iProspect has posited that “67% of the online search population is driven to search by offline channels. It also revealed that 39% of online searchers who are influenced by offline channels ultimately make a purchase.” The findings are not surprising, just as offline marketing is by no means a new idea. Offline companies have always aspired to big offline marketing campaigns, so what exactly is so groundbreaking about this study? Nothing. But it reminds bloggers, among other webmasters, that there is still a venue for marketing online ideas in the offline world.

If I see something cool offline, I will search for it online

Every time I want to know more about something, I Google it, and I am not alone in this. If one is subjected to an idea, and that idea appeals to that person, they will search. For regular marketers, this might mean TV commercials, magazine ads, radio spots, billboards, and other types of interruption marketing. Bloggers must take a different approach, for the obvious monetary reasons.

I found a great deal of discussion on the topic of offline blog marketing on ProBlogger.

In 5 Uncommon Ways to Market Your Blog

When people market their blogs they usually do so online. If you go to work or meet tons of new people on a daily basis you should share your blog with them if you feel it will benefit them. Every time I go to a conference or a meetup, I usually tell people about my blog and within a day or so I see an increase in RSS subscribers.

In  How to Market Your Blog in 2007

Network in person: Find other local bloggers using services like Meetup, and see if they’re literally getting together to commiserate about blogging or their topic of blogging. If you’ve got the time, there’s nothing that makes an impression as actually meeting someone in person. Tip: bring a business card; Another tip: if you don’t have any, make some; yet another tip: if important people are going to be there, really — try and go.

In Using Local Newspapers to Promote Your Blog Offline

Email or call 5-10 of your closest local newspapers and explain you have an explosive new website that will revolutionize the industry you’re in. Make sure you emphasize you’re local, and build it in or near their coverage area. In my case, I’m touting my wallpaper site as the next YouTube- the next huge community oriented around desktop backgrounds, and while that might be a bit extreme, it catches the newspapers attention.

I found some similarly interesting tips and suggestions for bloggers on BlogHerald.

In Marketing Your Blog  in the Real World (offline)

• Come up with a one sentence “pitch” or description of what my blog is about, understandable by the non-technical.
• Design a simple, clear graphic identity specifically for print.
• Create a business card with the name and URL of my website.
• Make some promotional products (stickers or T-shirts) that could be given away or sold via the blog.

Here are some things I am going to do:

• get MooCards made from pictures that I eventually upload to Flickr: I will give these to people when they show an interest in my blogging
• make some stickers of my bear with URL… stick one on my scooter and stick them places and send them to people via my blog

What do you do, or would you like to do, to promote your blog in the real world?

Popularity: 3% [?]