If you are going to make money on the Web now is the time to accept the one overwhelming reality. Success goes to those who can generate traffic. Period. The END!
Everyone who comes to the web runs up against this reality eventually. Everyone, without exception, gets scammed by someone or something offering a solution to this problem. We were scammed out of a lot of money twice in two weeks and nearly three times. We shared the common feeling that (a) there had to be a ‘secret’ and (b) we had ‘better things to do’ than generating traffic so we could ‘outsource’ it. We’re here to tell you, wiser and poorer, that we were WRONG, very, very wrong.
There are no ‘secrets’ – though different tools have different effects. We knew that! Regular advertising and traffic generation in the physical world tells you that. Billboards are not TV spots. Bulk direct mail is not magazine advertising. Each tool and technique has its own methods and different segments of the population are attracted by different techniques. Why we should have allowed ourselves to think the web world was different I have no idea. But, like countless thousands of others we did and got punished for it!
Outsourcing traffic creation can be done. In the real world and in the web world. Lead companies gather leads with greater or lesser efficiency and sell them. The leads are cold, warm or even possibly hot. But, who knows? And you can be sure of one thing: the ‘hotter’ they are the more expensive they are! We, initially, had no luck with leads. We bought them for a few cents each and at our peak (for a Herbalife business we were testing) we paid $20 plus per lead. They were equally useless! Until we discovered co-registration through a newsletter – but more of that later…
So is there any hope? Any ‘secret’? NO! Or rather perhaps YES. But it has nothing to do with any particular technique. We call it (only half in jest) the Zen of Traffic! And it is
THE PERSISTENT APPLICATION OF A RANGE OF WELL-KNOWN TOOLS
So, no pixie dust. No one riding to the rescue. No way of really buying your way out of the problem. Anyone can generate traffic. Anyone! All you have to do is:
Learn the tools and their applications
Apply them PERSISTENTLY, which means DAILY, FOREVER (you’ve read those sales pitches that talk about a couple of hours a day; this is what they are talking about!)
Measure the results with great accuracy and adjust the mix of tools based on experience.
THAT’S IT!
Why the Zen of Traffic! Because, of course, persistence is a personality trait; a behavior pattern that you either have or can be taught. And like the practice of Zen teachings the more you DO and MEDITATE on the results the greater mastery you will possess until eventually generating traffic becomes an ingrained skill. And like Zen philosophy the only way of acquiring it is to DO it! Period. The End!
By definition, we cannot turn you into Zen Masters in this book. Though we are quite good at sayings, try this one:
“Fish where the fish are when they are feeding”
Not quite Eastern, perhaps too obvious, but think about it.
What we can do is show you the wide range of web traffic tools and something of how they work. After that it is hard work and persistent application on your part. Whether you exploit the traffic to sell your own product or to sell that of others, if you persist, the reward is THE ACHIEVEMENT OF YOUR DREAMS.
In this section, for convenience we are going to divide the traffic builders into six categories that we have called:
Dancing with Search Engines: Search engines are the dominant force in traffic generation. But they are slow to develop and the competition is stupendous
Generating Traffic with Pay-per-Click: There is a traceable linkage between money spent on pay-per-click and product sales. Powerful and in low interest categories, very inexpensive
Writing for Traffic: The web is an information vault. Focusing on content and providing people with structured and useful knowledge is a terrific way to generate traffic. Additionally, articles carry your web address and so provide the back links the search engines love!
Classic Advertising Tools: The web has the same array as in the offline world. Worth the effort, but remember “Fish where the fish are when they are feeding.” Don’t just throw money out there
Affiliate Programs: Are essentially traffic builders. Very, very powerful
Joint Ventures: If you are an established player this is a powerful route.
And then some Concluding Thoughts
Good luck!
Go to Next Article: Dancing With Search Engines
