Driving traffic can be confusing, can’t it? Everyone seems to be wanting to sell their “latest and greatest” method of driving traffic.
One thing that seems to be missing in the talk about traffic online is the ability to see the big picture.
At the end of the day, there are only two ways to get traffic. You earn it or you buy it.
So it’s time for a little common sense and a look at the big picture of getting traffic. Today we’ll glance at 22 proven ways to get traffic the old fashioned way… by earning it. This is just an overview, but I’ll get more in depth with each topic in later articles.
The key to succeeding with free traffic methods is to choose one you enjoy and master it.
Let’s take a look at three major ways to get traffic by earning it, and the specific techniques that come from those choices.
Traffic Moves In Streams
When Bob Allen asked me to help him write “Multiple Streams of Internet Income” I was honored. But only when I read the finished work did I realize his true genius. He had summed up many methods of getting traffic and put them into a mental picture anyone could grasp in an instant… a great ocean of prospects flowing into a series of streams (a sales funnel) that created sales automatically.
To keep this as simple as possible I’m dividing my 22 proven methods into three themes:
* Publishing
* Broadcasting
* Collaboration
Your goal should not be to do all of these at one time. Find the one you like best and make it work for you.
Publish
You must publish, in order to succeed, online.
Happily, you can be a great publisher without being a great writer.
There are many ways to publish information online. We know that there is an almost endless supply of people searching for things…for information.
If you become the person who provides the information – be that by writing or by curating or aggregating – you will succeed. If you doubt that, check out the top blogs online. Guys like John Chow now charge $500 to simply review a product on their blog. Is it worth the price? In many cases it is.
Here are the most proven ways to publish online in my experience along with a couple of tips below the list about which work best for most people.
I’ve done all of these and continue to use most of these methods today.
* Publish an ezine
* Have a Squidoo lens
* Publish a blog
* Guest posting
* Viral marketing
* Article marketing
* Press Releases
* Distribution
* Books
* Email
* Reports
In my view blogging is the best way to start. It’s easy to set up and maintain. You can hire it done on sites like eLance or use a service like TypePad. One of my favorite marketers, Seth Godin, has used TypePad for years. So don’t think that using a service will limit you, because it won’t. For many it’s the best way to go.
Find the method you like!
If you like doing something you will keep doing it and it will become profitable the more you do it.
Big time bloggers like Chris Brogan or Brian Clark blog for profit now but they started with passion. If you follow your passion the profits will come!
The beautiful thing about the Internet is that there is an audience for almost any topic. Even if you never create a single product of your own, you can make money by providing your audience with the information they crave. When you do that consistently you become a trusted advisor, and people will buy what you recommend.
Broadcast
One HUGE key to succeeding with broadcasting is to repurpose your articles into videos, podcasts and more.
You never know how people will want to consume your information, so after you have created (or collected) your content repurpose it into another format and gain even more audience!
Turning your articles into videos and putting them on YouTube or Vimeo is super easy and fast. Likewise, having video content transcribed and then making that into a great article is easy and fast as well.
Another idea – transcribe webinar replays (with permission of course) into a series of articles or a short report. Give the report away and you can build your list faster and make more sales than ever.
I use this technique often. It works!
Here are the most proven broadcast methods in my view:
* Video
* Webinars
* Teleseminars
* Podcasting
If you are an active marketer now, then repurposing and broadcasting the information you already have can help you reach an audience you might never reach otherwise. Some people love video, some hate it, so why not appeal to all by providing both.
This is the best way to get marketing leverage that I know — do the work once and reach many audiences by taking a tiny bit of time to rework your ideas into new formats. Beautiful!
Collaborate
Another way to get great leverage is to work with others. We all know about joint ventures but there is more, much more, to working with others than doing things like ad swaps. Here are my favorites.
* Forums
* Linking
* Joint Ventures
* Testimonials
* Social Media
* Provide Services
* Swaps
When done right, working with others can be both fun and profitable.
If you have a powerful presence on social media, people will want to reach your audience. They’ll offer you money to do so.
I believe social media is the best place to start connecting. Start simple with Facebook and Twitter and move on once you have the routine in place. Just sharing what you are doing is not enough on social media – you need to think about your audience every time you share.
Action Steps
You might be thinking “pretty good article but what do I do now?”
Here are three suggestions…
1. When you publish anything – articles, videos, audio, anything – spend time (today!) thinking about how you can repurpose it into new content.
2. Follow your bliss. I know it’s easy for me to say that because I’m doing well and can follow my bliss all I want. But if you know me, you know that it has not always been that way, and I’m here to tell you that I got here by following my bliss. The article you are reading right now is what I wanted to do – so I did.
3. Choose one method and master it. Far too many people become discouraged after following a “guru” and ending up with nothing. Once you become interested in something, learn more about that topic.
* Who is using it well?
* How is it working for them?
* How can you emulate their success?
* What is the #1 free resource about the topic online?
* What is the #1 paid resource about the topic online?
* How can you get help if you need help?
Learning more and making a game plan will be necessary. But these methods can work if you work them. That much I know.
Think about this – how long have you been trying to make money online? Now what if you had been able to start with a clear direction, a proven roadmap that would take you from newbie to where you want to be?
That would be a gift, and a blessing.
Give yourself that gift today. Follow your passion, choose your methods and commit to excellence. Then watch as what you need comes your way while you are working hard at helping others.
It’s called the flow, and I know you can get there. It is worth the work it will take to get there because…
Being in the flow is a beautiful thing indeed!
