If you have a website then you will likely be familiar with the concepts of SEO and web marketing and you will probably be adept by now at getting people you meet online interested in your site and in potentially offering you a link. Despite this though, it seems that the vast majority of website owners who might be great at promoting their sites online are nevertheless useless when it comes to promoting themselves in the real world – or maybe don’t even think to try and do it in the first place. The problem is that many of us who operate online will think of our site only as an online entity and not as something that we can take into the real world to promote.
However promoting a website in the real world is actually a crucially valuable way to make it a hit – and it can give us a huge edge over other websites that operate only online. For instance imagine that you’re at a party and you’re talking to someone passionately about your website and what it does, and then you find out that that person just so happens to be the owner of Mashable. They’re impressed, and as a result they give you a one-way link completely free. It’s a completely possible situation, but one that would be almost impossible if we were trying to accomplish it online – it would just be an e-mail that got deleted or even picked up and discarded by the spam-filter.
So if you’re sold on promoting your website face to face, here’s how to actually go about doing it…
Go to the Right Functions: First of all, if you are going to promote your website to relevant parties then you of course need to be where they are in order to accomplish this. There are many places you can network with people who work online – for instance you can go to tradeshows or corporate events run by other websites, or you can go to networking events which take place in most big cities.
Host Functions: Don’t know any functions where you can promote your site? Well don’t let that stop you – why not just host your own? Whether it’s a launch party or a tradeshow hosting an event is a great way to raise your profile even before you’ve got talking to the guests.
Talk: Even when you’re not at a tradeshow or a networking event however, don’t assume that you can’t still promote your website. You never know who you might be talking to in a coffee shop or in supermarket – so make sure that you’re willing and happy to talk about your site wherever you go and you’ll be likely to strike up conversations that lead to useful connections.
Carry Business Cards: Business cards are immensely useful as a way to allow people to follow up on your discussions. If you carry a business card you can then turn a chat into a lead and show the person that you really mean business. Without one they might forget to get in touch and you can squander a perfectly good opportunity.
Practice Your Pitch: Imagine someone comes to your corporate event and it turns out that they are the owner of a huge blog. What are you going to say to them knowing this? This is why it’s worth practicing what’s known as your ‘elevator pitch’ – getting across all the information you need to convince someone of your project in the two minutes it would take for an elevator to get from the bottom to the top floor.
John Miller is a Sydney based internet marketing expert who is currently working for an seo company named Webfirm.
Gary Shouldis
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The last tip is quite useful Gary. Thanks. Time to practice my pitch!
Thanks for the comments Tal, one thing that I do is give out mini business cards for my blog whenever I attend an event. I order my mini cards from Moo.com and carry them around, promoting my blog wherever I go. It’s a great conversation starter and seem to really love the idea. Hope all is well!