Bloggers have oodles of opportunities when it comes to self-promotion. Many bloggers use a combination of social media, partnerships, linky parties, guest blogging, blog hops, ads, and other online marketing tactics to get in front of potential readers.

What about offline marketing tactics? There is no reason why a blogger shouldn’t take advantage of opportunities for offline promotion as well.

It doesn’t matter if your blog is for business or fun, you can still use these offline marketing tactics. Get up from behind the computer and take your blog on the road!

How to Promote Your Blog Offline

Who said you had to put your website’s home page on your business card? Add your blog url to your business card instead. This will help to position you as more of a resource and less of a salesperson.

Create a brochure or a postcard that directly promotes your blog. You can take the most popular post(s) from your blog and turn it into a brochure. You could also give excerpts from 2-3 posts, with a “click the qr code to finish reading this article” at the end of it. If you attend business events this is a great way to demonstrate your expertise (and marketing savvy).

Talk about your blog when the opportunity presents itself. For example, if someone is asking your opinion on a certain topic, give them your ideas and point them toward the appropriate category on your blog as another resource on the topic. Or perhaps you’re attending an event where the attendees can give a 30-second introduction. Be sure to tell people about your blog and how it provides information to help people with <insert your topics here>.

Write an article for your local newspaper or magazine. Find a local platform that caters to your audience and write articles for submission. This will set up your local credibility, and if people like what they read, they’ll head over to your blog to check out your content.

Put a popular quote or catchy headline from your blog on a t-shirt with a vanity url. You can make your shirt interactive and include a QR code so people can click your shirt. Make sure you wear your t-shirt around town as much as possible. Make it your standard uniform if you’re so inclined. There’s nothing wrong with self-promotion!

Make your blog sticky! People love stickers! A blogger can create a catchy headline and have stickers made for it, with your blog url at the bottom of the sticker and use them as freebies. Your sticker can be a company mantra, cartoon, or a quote that your audience can relate to. You don’t have to use the name of your blog or your company, you can get creative and make it fun.

Sponsor an event or nonprofit as a writer or blogger. This will help in your promotion to the community, and most events will welcome the extra press coverage. Just make sure you believe in the event/cause before you do this.

Give some swag! Do you like receiving swag from events? Bloggers can include swag in goodie bags and measure a return on this investment with a little bit of effort. For example, you can use tip number one and create a postcard with the title and excerpt from your most popular blog post, and include a vanity url or QR code for the reader to click to continue reading the rest of the article. Why use a vanity url? A special vanity url will not only look more appealing to a reader, but if you create it specifically for your postcard you will be able to track the traffic your receive from the event/postcard.

If you think about your blog as a business, you can develop a marketing plan that includes traditional marketing tactics as well. There are people who would love to read your blog all around you, you just have to share your content with them. I encourage you to experiment with a couple of these offline tactics and let me know how they work for you!

Ciao,
Kemya