18 Ways to Promote Your Blog Offline

It is a simple fact that the website is changing. The traditional idea of a website is turning into a changing, content rich environment where visitors can learn and interact with your business or nonprofit.  While it is appropriate to make your brand “evailable” and we know of multiple ways to promote your individual or company blog online but what about offline? The following is a list of 20 ways to promote your blog in a “traditional” sense. Some of the tips are a little outrageous but ya know what… we are all outrageous in some ways. Good luck and get at em!

1. Schedule a Seminar. The best way to promote your blog is to get speaking engagements or just create one. Use Eventbrite to market your seminar and talk about things relating to the content on your blog. Build the concepts of thought leadership.

2. Library Business. Go to your local library and grab books that cater to your blog and industry. Place your business card within the book (make sure your blog URL is on the card).

3. Add Your Blog URL to Your Business Card. If you have a personal bog (like mine: www.kylelacy.com) or even if you have a business blog off of your current website. Single out your blog on your business card.

4. Talk about you blog with every breath you take. This does not mean you overpower and drown people with your blog thought and opinions. This DOES mean that you talk about your blog when the time presents itself. If somebody is asking your opinion on a certain topic… give them your ideas and point them towards your blog.

5. Stick em up! Stickers for promotion. I have seen multiple bloggers and Internet-preneurs have stickers designed and printed that promoted their blog. If you have a catchy URL or tagline (example: Sometimes it is better to be socially creative) it might be a good idea to produce some stickers and hand them out.

6. Traditional Networking Rocks.  If you are a small business owner, sales manager, or account manager… you are more than likely already involved in a traditional networking event. Hand out your business cards, pass out your stickers, and talk your blog up! People want to read content that helps them with a pain point in their lives. Help them out and they will be forever grateful!

7. Hire a Dominos or Liberty Tax Guy/Girl. We have all seen them holding a promotion sign and dancing on the side of the road. I have had my fair share of almost running them off the road by accident but out of all honesty, it could be a great way to promote your blog. There is one benefit to hiring a roadside promotional person… they are hardcore!

8. Change Display Computers and Set Your Blog to the Home. If you find yourself in a Best Buy or any store that may have display computers… jump on the computer and surf to your blog and walk away. Now, this is not going to push any valuable traffic to your blog (who knows) but it was a funny idea.

9. Write a Magazine Article. There are plenty of local magazines around your area. Find the magazine that caters to your demographic and write articles for submission. This will help in your ability to gain traction with a knowledge hungry public.

10. Expensive Traditional Marketing. It pains me to write this portion of the tips but the ideas can still be used to promote a blog. Buy traditional marketing. Traditional marketing could be anything from radio, TV, billboard, or yellow page advertisements. I wouldn’t mind seeing my blog on a billboard but honestly, you have to REALLY justify the cost.

11. Sponsor a Fundraising Event. Find an event or not-for-profit that you can sponsor as a writer or blogger. This will help in your promotion to the community. One tip: Make sure you believe in the community based sponsorship before you buy.

12. Gifts. Maybe we should call it “swag.” Create a small gift like a frisbee or a can opener to hand out to potential readers. Jay Baer has an excellent business card that is fashioned as a bottle opener.

13. Attend Conferences and Conventions. This idea could be delegated to an individual inside the company or yourself… it is all dependent on your time and ability to commit to different conferences. The same concept applies to offline networking groups applies to attending the conferences and conventions in your industry. Your online relationships are SO much stronger if you connect in the offline environment.

14. Buy a Vehicle Wrap for Your Car. We have all seen the massive car wraps. If you are wanting to REALLY promote your blog… get a car wrap but to be honest… I wouldn’t recommend it.

15. Write a Press Release and Include Your Blog. There are individuals better at writing about promotion through the use of public relation tactics but it is still a viable option to promoting your blog.

16. Attend a TweetUp. You are probably already using Twitter and if you are not… you probably should be. Twitter users usually have different networking events where different users can meet each other in a specific geographic location. Attend a TweetUP and give more face time with the people you communicate with online.

17. Use CafePress to Design a T-Shirt. Put quotes from your blog on a t-shirt. Make sure that you wear them around as much as possible. This may seem a little egotistical but come on… most of us are… at least a little bit.

18. Your Top Post Should be a HandOut. Many of us are in agreement when we talk about the power of an integrated marketing approach when it comes to promotion. Create a brochure that is catered directly to your blog. Take the best and top read post from your blog and transfer it to the print material. Be sure that you hand your blog-chure out whenever you have the chance. This could be extremely valuable at speaking engagement. I have printed blog posts out in order to hand them to event attendees.