Free, Cheap & Fun Ways To Promote Your Blog Offline
I tried to come up with a few fun, out-of-the-ordinary and free (or just really cheap) things you can do offline to get people to visit your blog or your small business’ website.
The Free Methods
Sure you can leave a business card somewhere people are sure to find it but if you’re in a place where many people are leaving their cards, yours will just get mixed in with all the other little white rectangles.
Get a few pieces of brightly colored paper and cut some small, cute shapes out of them. Hearts, stars, diamonds, cats, turtles, seashells, flowers, skulls… anything that will go along with the general theme of your blog. Write your website URL across the shapes in big block letters with a marker and maybe draw a little doodle on it or write your tag line below the title. Leave your “funky business card” in the places you would normally leave one, like the counter in public restrooms, on a bulletin board, or on the table at a restaurant before you leave. Your colorful little shape will stand out and will be more likely to make someone curious, thus making it more likely that they will come visit your blog. Leave many of these in different places and there’s bound to be at least one person who will grab it.
You could also carry a little pad of Sticky Notes and a marker with you while you are out. When you’re sitting in a stall in a public restroom, write your URL and stick it on the wall for the next person to see, or stick it on the mirror. As far as I know this isn’t considered vandalism. You could also add this to the list of “Creative Things To Do While Pooping”.
If the weather permits, go out to the sidewalk with some sidewalk chalk and make a piece of art out of your blog’s URL. Draw your logo too if you have one. People walking along will ask you about it and it will be there after you are gone, at least until the next rain. They might think you’re a little strange for this if you live in a little town like I do, where most of the people are only interested in running with the pack and keeping up with the Jones’, but your objective is to get people to know about your blog right? Doing “odd” things will get you noticed.
Draw a few cute little pictures or a write cool quotes along with your blog’s URL on strips of paper. Stick these stripes of paper in library books before you take them back (stick them in the middle down in the crease between pages, sometimes librarians check for things inside the books) for the next person to find. Make sure it is a popular book to ensure that it will be found pretty quickly. You can also stick them in magazines at the Dr.’s office and you can use your “funky business card” instead.
If you are in the library and you can change the screen saver on a computer that you are on, go to the “scrolling marquee”, type in your URL in big letters and set it. Just make sure you are long gone before the screen saver comes on!
The Cheap Methods
Make a few little advertising tools like magnets, buttons or stickers and give them out to your friends. Make some buttons with a button-maker with your URL and your logo on them and attach one to your bag or your jacket. Stick a magnet on the side of your car. Make labels with one of those cool label-makers of your URL and stick them in random places or even on your shirt. You can also do something with letter stickers like this cute project by Ariel.
Speaking of shirts, you can print your own with some iron-on paper. Use a graphic-editing program to design a cool shirt design that involves your website URL and your logo, print it out on iron-on paper and iron it to some blank shirts. Make a bunch of them and give them out to your friends or to people that already love your blog. You can also make cool hoodies this way during chilly weather.
Print out little “brochures” with your blog’s information and one of your best posts inside and leave them inconspicuously in public places.
If people see your blog’s URL or title in writing and you are no where to be found, they will be more likely to get curious and want to check it out. People are used to seeing advertisements splattered across the internet but when they come across something randomly offline it seems a little more special, especially when its obvious that you’ve put your creativity into it.
January 3rd, 2010 at 12:31 pm
If I had a niche-blog I would do everything above
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Angie
January 3rd, 2010 at 2:14 pm
@Malin You can these with a personal blog too!
As long as you want more visitors why not?
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January 3rd, 2010 at 12:50 pm
These are such cute ideas! I especially love the sidewalk chalk one. I might have to give that one a try if for no other reason than I’m itching to start doodling on the sidewalks.
Krissy´s last blog ..Mixology… ‘Moonwalk Outfit: Best of 2009′
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January 3rd, 2010 at 1:54 pm
I love these ideas! I’m defenitly going to try the cool buisness cards in shapes of green trees, or make a shirt/buttons/stickers. In the past I have made buisness cards, left things in book such as a coupon for a free tarot reading & url in my library’s copy of Wizardology, secret graffitti, and writing my url and logo on a classroom whiteboard. Thanks for featuring my bicycle!
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January 3rd, 2010 at 4:18 pm
These are some really cute ideas! Love it!
Kendra´s last blog ..NEW YEAR, FRESH START.
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January 4th, 2010 at 12:49 pm
Those are really cool ideas! Very creative!
I wouldn’t want just anyone in this town to come across my site though so If I were to do those things I would have to do it in another town.
Angelica´s last blog ..Learn to evolve
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January 4th, 2010 at 12:50 pm
Got your card and candy btw! Thank you so much!
Two of the chocolates are already gone. XD
Angelica´s last blog ..Learn to evolve
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January 4th, 2010 at 12:57 pm
Those are some really cool ideas:) Thanks for sharing:)
Cecilie´s last blog ..Happy girls are the prettiest girls.
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January 4th, 2010 at 2:08 pm
Those are some really awesome and interesting ideas for promoting your website! I would have never thought of any of those. I like the shaped colorful paper idea and I like the bathroom stall idea
Kristine´s last blog ..50 movies: #31-40
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January 5th, 2010 at 3:28 pm
cute! i like it a lot. i’ve never promoted my blog outside of the internet. hmm.
floreta´s last blog ..I Know That I Don’t Know
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January 6th, 2010 at 12:31 am
I used to do that but with “You are Beautiful” cards I created and randomly put places. It’s fun!! As for promoting my blog, I’m not sure I still don’t feel like telling everyone I know about my blog. I told some selected people about it. I used to blog privately (on LiveJournal) and now mine’s public.
steph anne´s last blog ..I Think I Jowled Too Much
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March 1st, 2010 at 12:30 am
Thanks for the ideas! I especially like them for a personal blog, such as mine. Every other article I read about this kept saying to have business cards printed (professionally, I mean…$$$) or send out a press release…meh. Free, cheap, and fun–that’s the way I wanna do it!
AleciaBangBang´s last blog ..Indian Food, You’re Going Down–To My Belly!
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August 8th, 2010 at 6:58 pm
Wow you have some very sweet and clever ideas listed here. Thank you for all the little suggestions. I think I would have to execute them in a different town, though, because I wouldn’t want anyone I know in this small town to be reading my online journal.
Erica´s last blog ..Sheriff of Lincoln Park
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August 20th, 2010 at 11:56 am
These are some really great ideas, I’m thinking of starting my own blog so i’ll have to think about some of these ideas.
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