Most people approach the web passively. They put up a web site, They wait. Nothing happens. They complain. Or even, ridiculously, pull off the web, like it's the web's fault that 60 million people didn't drop by before breakfast.
If you want traffic, you've got to work for traffic. That means developing the Traffic Attitude.
This attitude consists of the following parts: recognition that the web doesn't promote itself and the determination to master web promotion. Make a decision to find every conceivable means of building your traffic, and use them all -- every single day!
1. Take Advantage of Free Classifieds
Did you list today? Yesterday? The day before? If not, there's a problem right there. Why? Because you can get a steady stream of prospects. By working with these prospects properly you get a steady stream of qualified prospects and, ultimately, sales.
The key? Developing titles that contain client-centered benefits. Also, make sure that your description further develops your title, while providing all the means necessary for your prospects to connect with you NOW.
2. Take Advantage of FFA Links
Submitting your site to Free-For-All Link pages has become an even better way to advertise than in the recent past with the invent of the Free Link Finder.
This little program spiders the net based on search criteria you feed it .You simply give it a set of search criteria and set it loose. It aggressively seeks out places on the net that meet your criteria and adds your link!
You can even download a FREE demo of the Free Link Finder to see how this program works.
3. Take Advantage of Paid Links
Everybody likes the free stuff, but there's something you should know. Advertising on the Internet is about placement - more precisely, where your ad is physically on the page, when a potential client visits the website.
That's why you should also use paid links.
If you can afford it, go for the premium or "TOP ADS". These are usually the ads people see first. They pull 5 to 10 times as much traffic as free or "average ads".
4. Take Advantage of Per Inquiry Advertising
Even though paid advertising pulls more than Free advertising, traffic or responses are NOT guaranteed.
As you may know, in traditional forms of paid advertising you are paying for space, circulation and the number/length of times your ad runs. Whether you get enough (or any) responses is of NO concern to the publishing media you're working with.
Per Inquiry simply means that the cost for advertising is directly proportional to responses received. In other words, X amount of responses for X amount of dollars.
If you are really serious about promoting your offer and want guaranteed results, you should use Per Inquiry Advertising.
5. Add your URL & Chief Benefits To All Marketing Materials
It staggers me how many opportunities for promotion pass every single day without being utilized. Look at your business cards, card deck cards, space ads, yellow pages ads, brochures, flyers, the envelopes you mail in, etc.
Is this information included on them... or are you literally throwing away promotional opportunities every time you think you're "marketing"?
If you want traffic, make sure everything you use promotes your URL and the reason for visiting it.
6. Develop A Response Template
Are you annoyed by unsolicited e-mail? I was, too, until I got smart about it. I figured these people were just a new kind of prospect. Thus, I developed a series of response templates in which I described my offer.
Send a Response Template To Every Unsolicited E-Mail You Receive. Just by clicking a button you'll be getting YOUR information into the hands of new prospects.
This method is more socially responsible than sending the kind of response hate mail that so many people unaccountably find acceptable.
7. Don't Slack Off
It's easy to be lazy. Sloth is seductive. But when you stop building traffic, you start cutting the value of your Web site. That's not my way... and it shouldn't be yours. Building traffic on the Internet is an exciting, high energy game. With very valuable pay-offs. Which get bigger every day.
Tim Urban is the CEO of NuWave Industries, an advertising firm that specializes in on-line & off-line Per Inquiry advertising. They also provide many tools for automating your online promotions. NuWave Industries can be reached at this address http://www.NuWaveInd.com or by email at Tim@NuWaveInd.com.