The Intro Thread.

[Paultheirish]

Hello, new to forum. I'm Paul and I write sales copy for a living.

My focus lately is getting back to working with offline businesses
again. This forum should help give me some good ideas.

thanks for having me

Paul

[Gina Gray]

Hi Paul.
Welcome looking forward to your posts.
Gina

[Chrissie]

Hi my name is Chrissie,
I was pleased to find this site thanks to Gina .
I don't have any major track record to speak of where the internet world is concerned  but have been online for a couple of years watching, dabbling and learning. I have done  a couple of courses.
My background is Network Engineering but my online interest is Social Media. A few months ago I decided to look at offline business presence online and hence is why I am here. I hope that I can make a contribution along the way.

[Gina Gray]

Hi Chrissie,
 
Thank you for joining us here.
Gina

[Glenn]

Hi Michael,

Thanks for all the work you do on the forum.

Off line ideas are indeed Gold.

Everything I do is By Referral. (My webmaster sent me here.)

Copywriting clients, Ebay hobby, consulting, funny money making stories for my Big Red Nose Club Ezine - By Referral only.

All from OFF-LINE referrals.

I noticed Don Alm posted a question about Texting as a new marketing strategy.

Well.

I just got off the phone with a New York City Taxi driver.  He tells me an up-scale Club he waits in front of at 2am just announced a STAR TREK Theme Party.

Dress Up Event.

He's on the Text List!

So the place will be packed full of folks dressed like the Original James T. Kirk Trekkies.

A perfect case of an offline - retail business using a "You-have-my-permission-to-TEXT
Me" list to pack in customers.

Thanks,
Glenn

[dougdegood]

Hello to all,

My name is Doug DeGood & I "stumbled upon" this site literally a week and a half ago. GREAT information to say the least.

A little history about me, I graduated high school in 07. I thought a career in Naval Special Forces was something I wanted to do..I went down to Tampa and completed a 48 hour endurance camp with some Former and Active Duty SEAL , EOD and Blackwater guys. I felt it wasnt the right career for me, so I hit the books with college with high hopes of becoming a mechanical engineer (I've always been a hands on type of guy and always building things, learning the mechanics of any component I come in contact with), I withdrawed from school..due to work.

Work; I've worked for a HIGHLY WELL KNOWN pizza franchise in Bay County..my parents have owned for over 10 years but over 30 years in the pizza biz. I became the Marketing Director while enrolled in college..and it dawned on me..Pizza Box Advertising, I've got a great deal going on..16 page self cover booklet, saddle stitched. These are passed out with all carry out and delivery orders that come through  our 5 locations. I could go on forever but I will  reveal more details as I become more familiar with everyone here on the site.


So here I am...21 years old in the marketing field..I've had a hand in it with my dad since I was 16 to be honest.


Hope that tells you guys a little about myself. I love this site and everyone on the forum seems to be FULL of vaulable information. Thanks again for allowing me to join the community.


Regards,


Doug

[Gina Gray]

Hi Doug and welcome to the forum.
Great having you here.
 
Wow it seems you have already had quite the adventure in your young life and have accomplished so much.
 
You are the Gary Vanyerchuck of Pizza LOL.
 
We would love to hear more about your booklet I'm sure or see samples if you'd care to share.
 
Hope to hear from you alot on here.
 
Thanks
Gina

[dougdegood]

Hi Doug and welcome to the forum.
Great having you here.
 
Wow it seems you have already had quite the adventure in your young life and have accomplished so much.
 
You are the Gary Vanyerchuck of Pizza LOL.
 
We would love to hear more about your booklet I'm sure or see samples if you'd care to share.
 
Hope to hear from you alot on here.
 
Thanks
Gina

Hey Gina,


Thank you for your kind words. I recieved your PM however I am not able to reply back through PMs. How do I go about having this fixed?

I do have no problem discussing some of my ideas/samples are time passes. I'm still workin on this 16 page publication as we speak. Should be printed in about 2 weeks and we will begin distributing them.

Thanks,

Doug

[Gina Gray]

Hi Doug
 
I believe you have to wait for 5 posts before you can pm.
But I will have my programmer lift that for you.
 
In the meantime you can email me at retailgoldmine@gmail.com
Thanks
Gina

[jstarx]

hey my name is jason in columbus ohio. Ive tried internet marketing for a few months now, and i havent been too successful. I am a people person and i have been working on the phone as a debt collector for 9 years. after studying  about offline marketing for the last 2 weeks, i think im sold on giving it a try. I would like to know where do i start. what course or guide should i purchase. I can already see myself getting on info overload and not taking action (just like with internet marketing) ..lol.... so i want the materials, and guideline so i am ready to start. I need to be able to outsource the webdesign for sure. i would need the best place to go for that, as well as templates , things like that. If you could please point me in the right direction . that would be awesome. im really glad i found this forum....

[Gina Gray]

Hi Jason,
Thank you for writing here. There are many great sources to find and learn from.
Start with Andrew Cavanaugh I still recommend him.

Then choose 1 or two and that's it. 1 or two services to offer.
Tell me which you chose and I will guide you in the right direction.

In the meantime scan this forum you will learn alot and maybe help you with your decisions.
Gina

[MrRay]

Howdy Folks,

Name is Ray and I'm the newest member here on OISA...(I think, but I've been known to be wrong on a few occasions! LOL!)

Been mildly active in affiliate/internet marketing over the last 5 years or so with little..and I mean "little"..success!

However, being the ever so optimistic person I am, I'm not going to let past failures way me down. I'm now in the process of pursuing offline marketing for local businesses and while I see the value that offers the small "mom & pops" out there in the world, I'm still learning/reading all there is to know about how to properly educate business owners to see the value in using my services.

Within the next week, my fiance' and I are moving over to Eastern Washington for family reasons and I'm hoping to make an impact on the local business scene, however the only drawback I see at this time is the size of the city. My findings online show that the total population is under 6,000..it's a growing city, but it's growing at a snails pace! ;-)

I've taken the extra time before our move if finalized and have gone through the city's Chamber of Commerce website and reviewed those business listings and have started to track which companies have websites, which ones don't and am trying to figure out the best approach.

Right now, I'm thinking that those businesses which do NOT have a website, but are listed in say Google Maps, I could offer the following services:

1. Web Site Design - I picked up a copy of XSitePro some time ago and figured this would be a good time to start getting familiar with it and use that for building good quality SEO'd websites...worse case, I could outsource that work for a price that will still give me a decent profit!

2. Web Site Hosting - I'm thinking a re-sellers account through say Host Gator..or even have them sign up through an affiliate link. I'm just not sure whats' the advantages/disadvantages would be to either option. If someone's got some advice, I'd surely appreciate it!

3. Lead Capture/Auto-Responder - I'm leaning towards using say Aweber here, seeing as it's a low cost start-up ($20 for a list under 5000

4. Article writing/Press Release - Outsourcing this side of the business seeing as I'm not the greatest writer on the planet.

5. Social Bookmarking - Self explanatory I would say! ;-)

6. Facebook Fan Pages

7. Video Marketing

8. Joint Ventures

9. Misc Ideas - I like the idea that I think Doug started implementing...with his pizza box advertising...reminds me of what someone else I read about in another offline forum started doing years ago. Just need to figure out the least intrusive way of offering this to local businesses so it's a "win-win" for everyone involved.

The only thing left is to determine my price points and getting my hands on some basic 'contracts', so when I do start prospecting, for a lack of better words, I'll have all the necessary information.

Well, it looks like I'm starting to babble, so I'll cut this post short! ;-)


Cheers,


Ray

[Gina Gray]

Ray,
Great post.

Keep your eyes and ears open something good is coming your way soon
to help you with those questions.

I wish you tons of luck in your new town and offline adventures.
Gina

[Howard]

Hello All,

My name is Howard and I live north of Atlanta, GA. I have a lot of programming experience and am now looking at easing out of the 9-5 and into my own business. I have one local client (website + SEO) and am taking my time with building my business.

I tend to get distracted when I find another "bright, shiny object", such as a new business idea. So I'm trying to concentrate on working the SEO side of thing right now. But, since reading the post about Fax advertising for restaurants, I'm taking a look at that

Hope to continue learning more on the forum!

Howard

[Gina Gray]

Hi Howard,
Great to meet you.
Funny I have an uncle in Atlanta named Howard.
What a coincadink LOL

Nice to have you.
Hope you have some fun here.
Gina