Start in Meatspace

Beforeyou venture into the online world of free marketing, you should start with what can be done offline to assist in the promotion of your storefront. Just because you have a virtual company doesn't mean you should ignore the real world. Or in the lexicon of the Internet, meatspace. There are opportunities to use the real world to market your storefront, and with no extra cost!

First of all, spread that URL of yours around. Before you reach for your mouse to market online, make sure you sprinkle your URL on every stitch of printed material that leaves your office. And include your company's email address, too.

Place both your URL and your company email address on all literature, collateral, business cards, letterheads, invoices, and the like. Also mention your URL on any and all media advertising you do. This also includes both the Yellow Pages and Business White Pages. Also, if your business uses POS (Point of Sale) packaging and/or display (such as at trade shows), you need to incorporate your URL and main email address on them, too.

You spent good money for traditional mediamake it count.

Next, spread the word.

Do you belong to any business associations? Are you a member of your local Chamber of Commerce? If so, contact them and ask that your website be added to their listings both online and off. Contact sites that service a regional area and ask that your site be listed with them. Many will comply. If they ask for a listing fee, move on to another organization.

Finally, stuff it!

There's plenty of empty space in your shipping boxes. Here's an opportunity to use meatspace to promote your site, exclusive specials, and immediate resales, as well as to cross promote and upsell.

Consider this: One of the best times to make a sale is immediately after a customer purchases from you. This is a wellknown fact in catalog sales. Make a purchase from a successful catalog house and in your shipping box you'll find several offers for additional products or exclusive timesensitive offers. So toss in several pieces of printed material hawking a new product, or give a discount or free shipping on their next order.

It only takes a minute to toss the flyers in the box before it's sealed, and it could result in additional sales.