Seems like everyone is turning to the internet these days for just about everything. It's like people have forgotten that before the days of Facebook and Google all business was done offline, using personal relationships. The good news is as in person relationships become less common they become more valuable. Connecting with people offline is also the best way to build a network marketing business. In this post I'll give you some tips on how to do just that with offline marketing.
When you're marketing online or offline the key to everything is building relationships. People are much more likely to do business with people they like and as a result trust. Therefore, when you're focusing on offline marketing, I suggest starting with the strategies that build personal relationships quickly.
Meet-up Groups/Events:
Seminars, clubs, meet-ups, etc. are really one of the best ways to build relationships quickly. If you really work a seminar right you can easily meet 10-20 people and get their business cards. When you're talking to them, find out what they need, what they wish they had more of (time? money?). That way when you call them in a few days you can say
"Hey Bob, this is Martin from the seminar the other day. You know I was just thinking about how you said the real estate market isn't what it used to be. I think I may be able to help you out, would you be open to a side project if it didn't interfere with your real estate business?"
If you master this offline marketing strategy it can literally explode your business in just a few months.
High Yield Offline Marketing
Another strategy for offline marketing is to use methods that focus less on building personal relationships at first, and more on doing the numbers. These methods get met with a lot more resistance, but can be highly effective if you reach a large enough population.
Bandit Signs:
If you're wondering what Bandit signs are, they are the flimsy plastic yard signs that you stick in the ground next to the road. Mainly they are used by realtors and politicians but I've seen them out there for a number of things. To use them for your business you can order a set of signs for around $100. Then you choose your message (something about making money from home). Finally on the bottom of the sign put a Google voice number that goes to a voicemail message. If you put the signs in high-traffic areas you can easily generate 10+ leads per day. Be warned, it is illegal to put up bandit signs in some cities but usually if someone cares they will just call the number and ask you to take them down.
Drop Cards:
Drop cards have been around forever but continue to be an effective method of getting offline leads. The best part about drop cards is that they add no time on to your day. Just take 10-20 cards with you every time you leave the house and leave them on tables, on buses, in waiting rooms, wherever you go. You're probably not going to build a massive team with drop cards alone, but hey, you have to go to the store anyways right? Why not take some cards?
Offline Marketing with the telephone
For this next one I'm going to ask you to conquer most network marketer's biggest fear: the telephone. You simply cannot build a network marketing business without it. So if your still afraid of you can use these strategies to get over it.
Cold Calling
This is one of my favorite methods of offline marketing. Once you've mastered cold calling you will never be afraid of the phone again. If that's all you get out of this strategy it'll be worth every second you put into it. That being said some ways of cold calling are better than others. For example, I don't suggest that you get the phone book out and start dialing random numbers. Think about who you would like to have in your business. Self motivated people? Sales people? Then just keep an eye out for these people's numbers as go through your day. When you see a realtor, insurance agent, or small business owner advertising their number to you, call them up and prospect them.
Buying leads
If you're really afraid of calling people it might be worth your money to buy some cheap leads and take a few days to go through them. There are plenty of places to get them so I won't go into that here. You can just use a very basic, quick to the point script and knock out 200 calls in a couple of hours. If you do enough you will make some sales but more importantly you will no longer be afraid to use the phone.
