The age of information and technology that we’re in the mist of is both a blessing and a curse for small businesses. On one hand, social media has made the world much smaller. You have an endless supply of potential customers at your fingertips. On the other hand, the Internet is flooded with startups. Starting a business is easier than ever before, so many niches are getting flooded with new businesses. The result?

It’s harder than ever to get noticed.

That leads us to the main question that this blog post will be centered on: How can you get noticed? How can you stand out from the crowd and convince customers that your company is the one with which they should choose to do business?

It’s a tough question with no single, easy answer. However, there are definitely some steps you can take to increase the odds that you will get noticed. Keep in mind that even though the Internet offers multiple avenues for marketing, digital marketing should not make up your entire marketing plan. Some tried and true offline methods still prove valuable.

Guest Post

Odds are you have a blog. So does everyone else. There are more blogs out there than anyone can ever read. So how do you get people to read yours? The best way is to guest-post. Guest posting is simply posting content to other people’s blogs. Doing so can:

• Give your name notoriety—The more you appear on other websites, the more recognizable your brand will become. People will be more likely to see you as an expert, someone with an opinion they can trust, if they see you on blogs they read.
• Bring your company blog traffic—Guest blogging allows you to tap into other people’s community of readers. If you get your content on the right blog, thousands of eyes can see it and then click on your link and read your blog. Assuming you have compelling, useful content on your blog, then you can get new readers.
• Increase search rankings—A smart guest-blogging plan can boost your rankings in Google. The result is more traffic, which leads to more conversions.

However, it’s important to note that guest blogging will work only if you put together a good guest-blogging strategy. The most important thing to note? Make sure the sites you choose to guest-blog on are relevant to what you do. Getting your content on an unrelated site is useless. Also, make sure the site is legit—no spam! If you don’t go about things in a prudent manner, your efforts can have a negative effect on your rankings.

Get Email Addresses

If you have a decently trafficked website and you aren’t getting email addresses, then you’re missing out on a great opportunity to connect. With collected email addresses, you can send out a newsletter through a service like MailChimp that keeps you on your customers’ minds. You can also use this information for contests and things like that.

Don’t want to spend the time composing newsletters? It doesn’t have to be hard! Just repackage all those posts you’re writing. Your newsletter can even mainly consist of a monthly content round-up.

Send Mail

So many people forget about the power of real-life physical mail. Guess what? Direct mail marketing can still work. If nothing else, it can be used as a way to stay on your customers’ minds. Send them gifts like coupons in the mail or other special offers, and they will be compelled to take a closer look. You can try sending postcards and stickers in the mail and really get noticed.

Think about it—who doesn’t like a discount or something for free? And, especially, if you can personalize the mail that you sent, customers will feel valued.

Want to Be Different? Then Say Something Different

Advertising is full of noise. Everyone’s talking, and customers aren’t always sure who to listen to. In fact, I’d venture to say that most of the time they have no clue to whom they should listen. However, as a small businessperson, marketing is getting increasingly difficult because it’s pretty easy to run out of good things to tell the customer. After all, hasn’t everyone said it all?

Well, when it comes to blogging in your niche, you need to realize that you can branch out a little bit. In fact, you have to, or no one will bother reading your same-old, same-old content. Here are a few tips to get your content to stand out:

• Take a stance—Find an issue that pertains to your industry and take a firm stance. It may be controversial, but controversy gets you noticed.
• Ask your customers—Take to Twitter and ask what your audience would like to hear about.

How do you stand out in your niche? Tell us about it in the comments!

Tom Chu for PsPrint, is a commercial printing company. Tom is passionate about the printing industry, makreting and design. Follow Tom on Twitter to learn more.