Offline list building is usually referred to as generating leads, but the concept is the same. The fact is, you should be doing both online and offline marketing. And just like your online marketing, you test different strategies and keep doing what works and get rid of what doesn’t work. Well, the same goes for offline marketing.

If you’re not doing both, you are missing out on some serious profits. Even if you are making $10K, $50K, or $100K a month online, why wouldn’t you want more?

Consider that in the 15 countries with the highest rate of Internet usage, only 18% have Internet access. That means over 80% of your market never has a chance to hear your message. And the actual percentage is even higher, since many people use the Internet for email only. Even in the US, which has by far the largest share of Internet users, 37% of the population is not online — that’s over 110 million people!

But…consider this: of that potential 18% that are online and you do have the potential to reach, they are offline the majority of the time, where they won’t see your message.

In other words, your target market is still likely larger in the offline world. By not marketing to them where they “live,” you are missing out on a very big slice of the pie.

Most offline marketing techniques are fairly straightforward, and can be done for very cheaply or even free. Here are some of my favorites.

Classified ads. This is something everyone should be testing in some form or another. It’s great for lead generations. You should still have a strong benefit-driven headline and a clear call to action. Free reports work very well with classifieds. My local paper, the Hartford Courant even has an ongoing deal of 3 lines for 3 days – for free! Even adding more lines only ends up costing a few bucks. With a price like that, there’s no reason anyone with a website should not be testing ways to draw traffic to the site with classifieds.

Postcards. Yes, postcards are a form of direct mail, but it warrants its own category. Postcards are cheaper to produce and mail than full-blown direct mail packages or sales letters, and they are great for generating leads. Like classified ads, a free report or free gift often works well here. Postcards are also a great way to stay in touch with your customers and prospects, and they also work well as part of a sequence of mailings. A good place to go for customized postcards is http://www.usps.com (the US Postal Service website), because the USPS has partnered with a company that will print and mail your postcards for you! Best of all, you only pay for the postage (i.e. FREE printing costs). Hint: be sure to include yourself on the mailing list so you can get your own mailing as well.

Flyers. Who says you can’t hire a high school student to stuff mailboxes or stick ‘em under windshields? Obviously if you are selling a high-priced financial course, it would be better to target the windshields of a fancy hotel than your local Wal-Mart. And I believe the US Postal Service also prints them for you like they do postcards if you want to mail them. Check out http://www.usps.com

Networking. Your local Chamber of Commerce, trade shows, seminars, and anywhere your prospects hang out are all good opportunities for networking. In many cases, the hotel bar the night before the seminar is the best opportunity for making contacts. It’s usually more effective to try to capture contacts and leads than to try to close a sale on the spot, so get your elevator speech ready and have plenty of business cards on hand.

Card decks. These stacks of index cards are mailed to targeted audiences. Each deck can contain anywhere from 50 to 200 cards or so, each with an advertisement or coupon. They may also double as a business reply card on back. Since your ad is mixed in with tons of others, it’s especially important to have a great headline and layout that will stand out from the clutter.

Card decks are inexpensive because all of the advertisers are sharing the cost of the mailing. They can cost as little as three cents a prospect for large mailings. Even for smaller mailings, they are generally cheap, which is good for testing.

Make sure you choose your audience wisely. Card decks are great for targeting a niche. Free reports or books work especially well here, because the person flipping through the cards will be attracted to the word “FREE.” As always, make sure there is a clear call to action. Multiple methods of response usually work better than a single method. For example, they can drop the card in the mail, call a free recorded message, go to your website, etc. And you may have some options with remnant space, so always try to negotiate a lower price (how hard is it for them to stick another card in their mailing…their costs are incremental and their profit is high even on remnant rates).

A couple other tips: When you see repeat advertisers in a deck, you have a pretty good idea that the deck is working for that ad. If that ad also targets your niche market, it may be a good one to test in. Also, test with copy that you already know works.
Package inserts. If you’re going to mail out a product or package to a customer anyway, always tuck a sales letter for another product in the package. It won’t cost you any more, and when your customer receives that package, he or she will be pleased with the product (assuming your product isn’t junk) and be more favorable towards another purchase from you. You can also joint venture with other companies that target your niche market and get them to include your insert when shipping their product.

Teleseminars. Basically a conference call, we’ve all probably been on many of them. Some have organized them and have been speakers. They can be pure content (i.e. no obvious pitches) for strengthening social proof and building up anticipation for a new product to be released in the future. They can be a mixture of content and pitch. You can even arrange a series of them as a tele-course and charge big money to attend (Marc Goldman and Jay Abraham did this with a six-month long series, one per month, on joint ventures and deal making).

Word of mouth / viral marketing. The key here is create something that people will want to share. Yes, the “tell a friend” scripts are good online. But surely there’s something you can think of to really “wow” them. You want to make them say “Wait until Jane sees this!”

One of the keys to making this work (and any sort of lead generation device) is to know your customer’s lifetime value. In other words, what does your average customer in this market (using the type of lead generation you are doing) bring me in profits over their entire lifetime? Let’s say it’s $25,000. And let’s say your method of gathering leads converts 10% of leads into customers. Do you think it’s wise to spend $100 per lead of that type in your efforts? Seems like a no-brainer to me.

Creative business cards. Besides using both sides of your business cards and putting a compelling benefits-oriented message on it, there are many other creative ways to put your business card to work for you. Of course, odd-shaped and “rolodex-styled” cards stick out from the crowd as well. One real estate agent in California hands an extra three bucks and a business card to the toll collector as he crosses the bridge into San Francisco. He tells the toll collector that he wants to pay for the driver behind him, and asks him to give the driver his business card. Nine out of ten times, the driver calls, at least to say thank you. He’s sold several expensive homes that way as a result.

A good lead generation device is to offer a free report or other gift on the back of the card. Then just distribute them where your prospects live.

At my local Munson’s Chocolates outlet, Sales Manager Jim Florence has his business card fully imprinted with the company logo, name, phone number, and email address made out of…you guessed it…CHOCOLATE! (best business card I’ve ever eaten). A relatively new technology now allows Munson’s to “print” in edible ink everything from text, images, logos, and photographs. With their business cards, customers get to taste their USP. How many other businesses offer that experience?

Issue a press release. An oldie, but goodie. The trick is to make sure your press release is a newsworthy event. For example, starting a new newsletter is not necessarily a newsworthy event (but it might in certain niche markets for smaller publications). Issuing a press release about a large donation you are giving, complete with relevant background story might be newsworthy. It all depends on your target audience and the publication(s). Editors pick up press releases if they think there is news for their readers. They do not care about you or your company. Your press release must be framed that way. “What’s in it for me” is very relevant here.

Write a book. With Print on Demand (POD) publishers, nowadays it’s easy and cheap to type up and edit a book in your favorite word processor, upload it to a POD’s server, and have the book available for shipping within weeks or less. Books are also a great way to position yourself as the expert. There’s something almost magical that takes place when you send your clients an autographed copy of your latest book. In their eyes, you instantly gain credibility. Your status becomes elevated. They are more likely to want to do business with you.

There’s little doubt that successful people want to surround themselves with other successful people. And a book shows them that you are successful. It gives you prestige. You are now an author. It’s far easier to dismiss your self-claims in a salesletter than it is from a book. The fact that anyone can have a book printed is irrelevant (at least for now).

If you don’t have the time or patience to write a book, you have several options:

- You can dictate the book and have it transcribed (elance.com and guru.com are good places to get a transcript done for you, but there are many other places online and offline to have them done as well).

- You can have someone ghostwrite the book for you. Be sure to check out their previous work, though!

- You can hold a teleseminar by yourself or with other experts and have it transcribed and edited into a book.

- You can get together with other experts in your field and each contribute a chapter or two for a book.

- You can interview other experts and compile it into a book.

- You can take books that are in the public domain, update it for today, and release it as a book (you may want to consider legal resources to make sure your choice is actually in the public domain…it’s not always straightforward).

As you can see, it’s fairly easy to have a book done in very little time and at very little cost. Just be sure the subject and material is relevant and fills a need. Ideally a book can also be used as a selling device for a back-end item or as a lead generation device.