A website is not of much value to your business unless you use it as part of your overall marketing and unless you encourage prospects and customers to visit your website to learn more about your product or service. The more people who visit your website the more successful and profitable that website will be for you.

There are two sources of promotion responsible for directing visitors to your website: online and offline. Offline is frequently overlooked, but accounts for far more exposure. Offline marketing targets prospects and customers through direct mail, networking, magazine advertising, classified ads, trade shows, word of mouth, flyers, signs, broadcast media, etc. and accounts for about 95% of most business marketing efforts. Online marketing uses a variety of methods to market to prospects and customers, such as email, search engines, banner advertising and affiliate programs.

To market and promote your website offline you can do two things:

All of your printed marketing, such as newspaper ads, direct mail, flyers, trade show signs, magazines and trade publications should all contain references to your website similar to the following:

• Go To www.mywebsite.com for our Free Idea Kit on "Widgets in the Workplace"
or
• For info on using widgets in your workplace visit our website at www.mywebsite.com

Word of mouth references to your website, by yourself and your staff, should be encouraged whenever the opportunity arises. If your company has an on-hold or voice mail message this message should promote your company website and direct prospects and customers there as a source of helpful information. If you include references to your website in all of your existing marketing efforts you can begin profiting from your website right away without incurring any additional expense.

You can make marketing vehicles out of your business cards and correspondence. While this is a relatively underused practice it still can be very effective because it costs nothing other than the printing cost you already incur.

First and foremost, business cards are the most common means small business people use to identify themselves with their product or service. No business person is without them. They provide an inexpensive and lasting reference that business people generally keep around for posterity. Your business cards should have a clear reference to your website and where appropriate a "magnet" or offer to attract prospects and customers to visit your website.

Stationery is another interesting and effective way to market your business offline. An envelope cover can improve the chances of it being opened rather than being discarded as "junk mail". A good magnet for an envelope might read "Open This Letter for Directions to Your Free Widget Idea Kit". Inside the promotional letter you would place references to where the prospect can go on your website to obtain the offer.

A "magnetic website" is not just a website with some "magnetic" features. It is a marketing system that combines offline and online promotions to attract prospects and customers to your company's website and keep them coming back. Your existing offline marketing represents a rich and readily available resource of valuable "magnetic" assets than can produce more sales for your company at little to no additional expense.