Want Traffic? Get Traffic!

Hi all,

One of the pressing problems facing marketers who are new to trading on the Internet is getting traffic. Without traffic there can be no sales, so here are a few ideas.

When any new business is first launched on the Internet, priority must be given to acquiring customers. Without a solid advertising and marketing strategy that new business will never get off the ground.

Every single website owner operating any kind of business on the Internet faces the same single challenge. How to drive traffic to their websites? The answer is to advertise, but what is the most effective means and more importantly what is the most cost-effective way?

Let’s consider the options. Pay Per Click on any search engine is effective but as Google is the top dog, then it stands to reason that if Google attracts more users then this is where you’ll find more prospects and potential customers.

But, as many online marketers have discovered to their detriment, PPC advertising can be the quickest way to go absolutely broke. Although the big advantage is... almost instant traffic. The same effect, although to a lesser extent can be experienced with Yahoo and MSN.

So what else can you do? Well, there’s email marketing but beware, scamsters and shisters and just about every other rip-off merchant going operate freely in this field. Anyone can build an email list very quickly by using ‘email harvesting’ software, then rent or sell the list to unsuspecting marketers.

Desperate for traffic many marketers will gladly hand over their cash for these lists only to find their websites have been taken down or banned for spamming.

Email marketing can be a very useful marketing tool but it’s highly advisable to always use a reputable list broker. Choose one that guarantees delivery of your email and offers some way of tracking results.

Another method of getting your message out there is article marketing. It runs in close parallel with press releases for getting results but costs nothing but a little time.

Basically, you write an interesting article about a subject similar to the product or service you want to promote. You can’t blatantly advertise, so the article has to be skillfully crafted to include benefits and features of your product or service without actually mentioning it.

You are allowed to include a resource box at the end of your article, which will include your name, a bio and a link back to your website. You then submit your article free, to the main directories such as, Article City or Ezine Articles and wait.

The idea is that people looking for free and relevant content for their websites will download your article in its entirety and feature it on their website. Hence you get free promotion. Press releases do very much the same thing.

One of the most effective methods of advertising online today is to find someone who is promoting a similar product or service to yours and who has a large list of subscribers to their newsletter or ezine.

Simply contact the webmaster or business owner and ask if you can place an ad in their publication. Most will be happy to accommodate and even recommend your product or service to their list, for a fee of course.

They might even offer to promote your products to their list and to other similar lists for a percentage of the profits. This is generally known as a joint venture and works well for both parties.

Next, if you have your own product to sell, you might consider setting up an affiliate program. The idea is to get as many people as possible promoting your products all over the internet. Think of it as building a sales team. Each member of your team will make sales for you for a percentage of the sale.

Finally, I should mention viral marketing. (Ooh! Sounds nasty!)

Don't worry it's not a contagious disease, and it can bring in a very healthy profit.

Think I'll leave this one till next time, as I want to cover it in detail.

So... all for now.

Bill
www.money-harvest.com
www.knight-writer.co.uk