Between an online and an offline business which on one do you prefer?

Between an online and an offline business I prefer having an online business than an offline business.

Here are the reasons why:

• Easy to set up and start up. You could get a site/ or a blog and have it working in minutes.
• Low investment, you could even start up one with out having to pay the essentials like web hosting, and domain name registration you could get free on the internet for free. Sometimes all you need is a personal computer and you will be on your way to earning from home.
• You don’t need to maintain any stock for inventory if you are only selling digital products or offering membership sites, job posting site, or online advertising.
• You could reach a lot of people with email, opt ins, feeds, bookmarks, article marketing and some other method without spending a lot of money.
• Few or no employees to maintain. You would not need to hire people if you’re an affiliate marketer promoting other people’s business but if you are selling books or any tangible product you might just need employees if the orders become too many to handle. But in most cases, specially if you are an affiliate marketer you wouldn’t need to hire people to help you, you could handle your business on your own.
• You can operate at home or anywhere you want as long as there's internet connection, and you can work at your own hours

On the other hand an offline business you would need a lot of money to start.

• A storefront to display your products or an office is what you will need to start an offline business
• Since you will need an office or store front the initial capital outlay will be a lot, you might want to consider borrowing from friends, relatives, or from a bank to raise the needed capital for your business.
• You would have to maintain stocks, you would need a separate room in your store front for your stocks
• For advertising or promotion, you could go from newspaper advertising, TV, radio, billboard advertising or other forms of offline advertising. You could even go for online advertising. Newspaper, TV, radio, and billboard advertising however would cost you a lot of money.
• You will most likely need a helping hand in your offline business, you would need to hire at least a few employees to help you with your business.

Like me you may want the online business better than a bricks and mortar business, but it's a good idea to have a good mixture of both online and offline business. Let's say for example your business is a bookstore, you must also have an online presence in order to go full circle. Because if you don't you will be missing out on a lot of sales from people who buy online.

Here are somethings you could do if you have an online/ offline business:

• Use paper click advertising to attract more people to your business whether online or offline. I recommend Adbrite and Bidvertiser because I personally make money from these ad networks.
• Use email marketing to send out email campaigns to your customers. Be careful with this thou, don't send out emails to people who did ask for the info.
• Advertise on newspapers to reach people who wouldn't even be able to go to your online/offline store front unless you advertise on print. When you advertise on newspaper don't just put your URL, but also your email, phone number and physical address.
• If your business is just starting out, billboards, radio, and TV ads might not be a good idea. But if you think your business is ready for the above mentioned forms of advertising go ahead, but be cautious when spending your advertising money. Your advertisement has to pay for it's self, if doesn't pay for itself you better stop advertising.
• Use the phone, all thou in some areas telemarketing is not allowed you could still utilize the phone to contact possible cutomers. Just be very cautious when doing telemarketing. Use a good list from a reliable list broker or you could simply use the telephone directory.
• Flyers, yes this still works. Create a simple flyer with your phone numbers, email address, URL and business address. Offer a discount, print it on the flyer and give it away in busy locations like supermarkets, and malls and you will be amazed by the results.

Let's help each other achieve our goals, if you have anything to share please feel free to add a comment.

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