Get backlinks using The Postcard Project
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Sometimes it pays to take your blog marketing offline. So, let’s try an experiment to generate some backlinks using good old direct mail and the much-maligned post card.
How it works
The idea is to generate interest in your blog by sending something most people never receive — a post card. The curiosity factor combined with an interesting message should at least gain you a visitor. If that visitor is looking for material to blog about, you may very well get a link from them.
What you need
Well, post cards, obviously. Pre-paid post cards are 28 cents at the Post Office. 25 of them are just $7. Consider it cheap marketing. I also like to use pre-printed return address labels. For the message, I think handwriting is more effective than type. It adds to the mystery. And, we’ll need some addresses of bloggers.
How to get addresses of bloggers
WHOIS is your friend here. It allows you to check the registration data of a domain name. Most of the major blogs will have private registrations, but don’t let that stop you. You can use my post about using Technorati to get backlinks to find plenty of blogs for this experiment. For example, if you WHOIS my domain, you get the following:
Registrant:
Michael Haislip
502 S Main St
Saint Joseph, Tennessee 38481
United States
See, that’s my address. Go ahead. Send me a postcard and I’ll link to you. Really.
What to write
Here’s what I plan on writing:
Hello. You are part of an experiment called The Postcard Project. It is meant to generate interest in my blog located at MichaelHaislip.com. If you think that this experiment was successful, please mention it on your blog.
If you have room, add a signature.
Results
I’ll post periodic updates on my results. If any of my readers participate, please let me know about your results here in the comments. Good luck!