Unfortunately, offline advertising isn't cheap. Studies show
that a small Internet company with $20 million in sales generally
spends 10 to 20 percent of its revenue on advertising, with 75
percent of the advertising budget spent on offline endeavors.
"Offline advertising is more expensive than online, for
sure," says Daniels. "Depending on the online method you
use, it can be as much as 25 percent more. But it's worth it to
me."
For his campaign, Daniels developed a simple four-page,
full-color catalog featuring his company's products and
services. Now, whenever someone orders a product, he packages the
catalog with the order. He also regularly sends it to the customers
in his extensive database of names and addresses.
Here's the cost breakdown: To print and mail the first 5,000
catalogs, Daniels spent $2,500. But because the campaign proved so
successful, Daniels now sends between 5,000 and 10,000 updated
catalogs to customers each year. He has also purchased a list of
5,000 names and addresses of fellow Web site entrepreneurs for 10
cents a piece from infoUSA.com and sends postcards to these
prospects any time he wants fresh leads. Total cost? Approximately
2.5 cents printing each direct-mail piece, plus postal bulk-mail
rates.
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Offline efforts work well for Daniels. Today, he devotes 10
percent of his yearly marketing budget to offline advertising-and
that percentage is growing. Says Daniels, "People are
constantly changing their e-mail addresses, so it's hard to
keep in touch with everybody on your list. But when you put
catalogs into customers' hands, you're reaching them in the
best way possible."
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