If a website is a billboard in the middle of nowhere-- no one is going to see yours until you move the 'highway' near where your billboard stands.  The best billboards offer the viewer something-- fast-- as they quickly pass by.  Usually you get one good shot to spark their interest-- and POOF! they're gone forever.  But what if you could get these internet travelers to pass your website 'billboard' more than once?  Wouldn't your odds of sparking interest go up-- and with it your odds of engaging them as a lead?

When you market via the web-- whatever vehicle you select (adwords and other SEM, SEO, banners and so forth) you're hoping to find people 'looking' for something that can lead to you at the precise moment you happen to be advertising.  In fact, you're betting your marketing dollar you can succeed making those moment-to-moment connections online-- and inevitably it doesn't work out that way.  From a pure ROI standpoint, the risk of failure is great.  Postcards, simple in design and simple in their message, can bring a viewer to your website where you'll have the chance to develop them into a more substantial lead opportunity-- whenever they are ready to engage you! 

A well-designed postcard with a well-crafted 'call-to-action' will not only reach your farming area audience initially but can be passed along as a referral and held for future reference-- a good postcard has a call-to-action or develops some  degree of shelf-life for repeated impressions-- or does both! 

Aside from the obvious postcard styles REALTORS® use (Just Listed, Just Sold, etc.) others that could accomplish website traffic for you might include:

• Offers of useful neighborhood information that can be downloaded from your website.
• Offers of useful discount coupons that can be downloaded from your website (if you'd offer a discount on my printing services, I'd be happy to send you a file you can put on your website to make a discount available to your web's visitors!).
• Announcements of where on your site you maintain a list of key area services that you trust (every REALTOR® knows a good plumber, a good HVAC person, an honest handyman, etc.)  Your 'stamp of approval' may be seen as more influential than you might realize and you can gain trust with neighbors long BEFORE they decide to list their homes by providing them with trusted resources they'll need while living in the area!  Update this section on your site regularly and make your 'referred' people return the marketing favor in addition to earning your ongoing endorsement!
• Announcements of where on your site the results of your past clients' LOCALS ONLY survey results can be found(the place where you report the results you gather after asking your past clients to tell you their favorite restaurants, the best shopping, the best afternoon activity, etc.).  Survey your clients, ask for their comments on interesting questions, post some of the comments along with a nicely shot digital photo of them and their name, and let them know the results will appear on the internet.  Not only will your past clients appreciate your asking their opinion, they'll be thrilled to see themselves nicely displayed on a part of your website-- and they'll send that link to a lot of people they know (in the area and beyond) who will soon be visiting your website!

The secret to having a great billboard is having something of value or something of interest for people to want-- and then using that forum to develop a relationship with them (see my related article on website registrations).  The secret to having a billboard that produces leads is getting the 'highway' to run near you and getting people to want to run up and down that highway often.  Postcards can help you accomplish that objective.  And, lest I forget to ask you for your business, We can help you produce and mail postcards to your farm!  Visit the website and be sure and bookmark it so you'll always have a ready-reference for where to go for help with your offline marketing pieces.