My dear reader, I would like to ask you today to sit down with me for a couple of minutes and give me the chance to talk to you from a different perspective than before. I told you over and over again how important the internet is and how successful online marketing can be, but I just want to be totally honest with you and openly admit that there are still a couple of effective “classic marketing techniques” to support the promotion of your online presence. Whew… now that I’ve said it, I feel much better…

OK, I know you did not expect me to talk about off line marketing strategies and tactics, but there are some things that can not and should not be ignored. In the tough economy we all live in right now, I don’t think the best approach is to switch from classic to online marketing. I think using the right mixture of both is the best solution! Classified ads are not dead! Local and regional newspapers still sell very well and sometimes, when you are tired, is much easier to lift a newspaper than a laptop. Internet is not everything… not yet and maybe it will never be. We don’t live in a Matrix waiting for Neo to rescue our online business… At least I hope not! I mean, it’s not that I would mind being rescued by Carrie-Anne Moss but I prefer to make sure my business gets its share of customers both off and on line.

Getting back to classic marketing tools, I think using local and regional classified ads to advertise your online business is an excellent way to get your website known and will give you an advantage over your competition because most online businesses don’t use the local and regional classified ads. And I’m not talking about free online classifieds. I’m talking about placing small ads in local and regional newspapers or magazines. Now let me tell you: advertising online is not the only way to make money online! Local and regional classified ads will return the money pretty quickly and the web site traffic generated will be extremely qualified. Think about it, if someone sees an ad in the local or regional classified ads and takes the time to go to your website to check it out there must be a great interest in what you have to offer. Where there is interest, there is money to be made.

Now, don’t throw this article on the couch hurrying out the door to get to the local newspaper. First you have to do some analysis to be sure that the return you will get is greater than the cost of the ad. The best thing to do is to check to see what a local or regional ad will cost so that you can budget for it. Don’t go for the cheapest; find the right balance between costs and ROI and make sure the newspaper or magazine has a high enough reader base for you to be worthwhile.
You can increase the effectiveness of your promotional efforts. Don’t just move your money from the offline budget to pay-per-click and email marketing campaigns. Make sure you use the right mixture of internet and classic tools. Hanna Montana might be very popular right now, but I would trade her for Shirley Temple in a split of a sec… See y’all online! And off line!

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