Did you know that Local business is booming? One of the absolutely most profitable things you can do to generate a lot of cash in a hurry is to take your online skills to the offline (local) world. When those two worlds collide, money happens. And, it’s not nearly as difficult as you might think.
Here’s what I’ve discovered… most offline business owners want to have a profitable online presence, and may even have a website already, but they aren’t optimizing it even a bit. I love this market, because it’s incredibly easy to find clients, and it’s even easier to really impact their businesses. In fact, if more of us online marketers would go offline, I believe we could really make an impact in our local communities.
How can you profit quickly from this opportunity?
Here are some services that you can offer that you probably do already for your own business:
Web Design or WordPress Blog Installation & Customization
If you know how to design websites using WordPress, you can save the day for local business owners who don’t know where to start. If you’re not but know someone who is, that will work in your favor too! You bring in the client, your friend (find someone like me who pays a referral fee) and you both profit.
SEO: Search Engine Optimization
In some markets this is hard to compete in, but if you’re in a medium-sized town, it can be quite easy to get the number one ranking position in Google for your client simply by submitting a few articles at EzineArticles, posting a video on YouTube, and sending out some press releases. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist, and your client will surely think you hung the moon.
Mailing List Management
This is another highly profitable opportunity for you to take your online skills into the offline world. Offer to set up a mailing list for your offline clients and bill to send the weekly or monthly updates. You can really step this up a notch by doing some testing and offering coupons in the ezines you send that are only sent to that list. When customers start walking in with those coupons, your client will know who sent them.
Video Marketing
Many offline business owners aren’t into writing, but they will get in front of a camera to talk about their area of expertise. Grab a Flip Mino camera (that link goes to the one I have which I really like) and capture that video and post it to the host video sites, using some coveted key phrases. You can charge a good amount for this service, even though it may seem like a trivial “everyone knows how to do that” task. Trust me. They don’t!
So, where do you start? Ask around first. It’s always easiest to get in the door with people you know, or who know people you know. Then, create a list of profitable offline businesses and take note of any who do not have an effective web presence. From there, it’s a matter of picking up the phone and taking that first step.
To your success!
Glennette Goodbread, Owner
Premium Web Design and Hosting
