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This isn't a new subject, and as much as we
know that it takes effort to produce anything worthwhile, the lure of the
"easy buck" is ever present.
It's true that automation of business processes
can drastically reduce the amount of effort required in everything from
promoting your business, to collecting payments from customers, to tracking
shipments. Even paying your taxes.
And it's true that the web, email, VOIP, and
other technologies can drastically reduce the cost of advertising,
communicating with prospects, and following up with customers.
But that's still a far cry from "free and
effortless".
At least two or three times a year we may hear
of someone hitting the Lotto, and there are hundreds of biz-opps where you can
get rich overnight (yeah... right). No selling and they do all the work
for you! (uh-huh)
How many times do we have to hear, "There
ain't no such thing as a free lunch" before it registers?
I recently received an email from a merchant
that I represent as an affiliate. He pointed out that one of the most
common reasons that 80% or more of affiliate marketers never even make a
living from their internet business (much less get rich) - is
inaction.
They start out with good intentions, but then
get distracted by other "opportunities" - or are just don't know how
to get started.
That got me thinking about my own habits.
There's nothing wrong with my work ethic. I'm plenty active - but
sometimes misguided (too many products to promote, too many partially
completed projects, etc.).
I have a number of different web sites, and I
analyze the stats for one of them on a very regular basis and in much
detail. I've been doing that for about three years now, so I've been
able to draw some conclusions about the relationships between traffic volumes
and sales, where my traffic comes from (i.e. search engines, affiliate links,
incoming links, advertising campaigns, etc.) and what overt activities on my
part have the most dramatic impact on the traffic to my site.
Here's my "Tip of the Day":
Two things have the most predictable impact on my
traffic volumes, and the boost in traffic lasts 3 to 4 days every time one of
these two things happens.
- Promoting one of my products through a Joint
Venture with a partner or partners with good sized, responsive opt-in
lists.
- Publishing a new issue of my newsletter.
Of the two, I can write an article or two and
publish an issue of the newsletter much more often than I come up with a good
offer for a joint venture. The bulk of the traffic boost comes within
the first 24 hours, and then tapers off over the next few days. If I
publish every week, the overall levels remain high. If I only publish
once a month the valleys are wider, but more importantly, they are
deeper.
Consistency and Frequency of contact are
important.
Joint Ventures give me important boosts in
traffic and sales, but those usually involve creating a new product, or
bundling products together into a package that will be attractive to potential
JV partners. Something that will bring us both a lot of sales.
When I get distracted by other things, and miss
getting out an issue of my newsletter - traffic levels fall off, and so do
sales. The longer I procrastinate or involve myself with other things,
the worse it gets.
Just in case that's not clear...
The most predictable way to drive traffic to
your web site and to maintain consistent levels of sales, is to build an
opt-in list of interested readers, and then communicate with them.
After all, they want to hear from you.
That's why they opted-in to your list in the first place, right?
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About the Author:
Sid Hale is the owner of several successful websites including
ad-CLiX.com and Info-Syndicate.com,
and is co-creator of
jvAlert
- a membership site for facilitating high-level Joint Ventures.
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