Monday, January 29, 2007

Free Targeted Traffic


Ok, so here's the thing.Somebody said you should start your own home business.You need to start developing residual income.So you took the plunge and signed up as an affiliate with XYZ company.You found out they give you a website with a url that you are supposed to market so you can sell products or sign other people up with.The only problem is the url is big and long and not search engine friendly.Don't get discouraged with your new online business.You have a couple of choices here.So you did some research and you heard it was a good thing to have a website.After checking into it with various website building companies you discovered this can be a bit of a bottomless money pit and you weren't sure about this route.After all you haven't even made your first sale yet.

Sadly I have watched this happen a few times.People who are naive spend a whole bunch of money setting up a website only to find they can't afford it in the long run and two months down the road they are gone.The truth is an internet business is not an overnight thing.In the beginning of your journey you are going to have to wade through a river of bald face liars to get to what really works or what the truth really is.Every time you hear phrases like "make a thousand a day " or "we do all the work" or even"we will generate $100,000 in business for you or your money back" you ought to take a step back and slap yourself across the face(like Jim Carey did in the washroom of his movie Liar Liar) because that's how it is going to feel when you sucker for any of these ploys.Ask yourself when you go to work everyday if everyone else does all the work for you.Not a chance!Only if you live in the twilight zone.We get to believing that the internet is somehow different than the real world and it just isn't.

Alright enough rambling and babbling.If you have a little work ethic I am going to lay it out for you with long range thinking.This is how you can be thrifty in the process of establishing a web presence over time.

#1Get a blog instead of a website.What's a blog you ask?It's a journal or diary or a web log about yourself.The possibilities are endless but you are going to use it for your affiliate business.Why?Because it absolutely FREE to get one.You can put your big long affiliate link in the back office of your blog and people will only see the title you give it.A blog will do everything that a website will and the search engines love them because search engines are looking for good quality content.The one I use is www.blogger.com. and I am set up with the new blogger.Recently they have made some changes to their whole set up and it really is amazing now.There are a bunch of templates to choose from and you can change the template,colors,fonts, pictures, links, banners..etc every ten minutes if you wanted.Also you will be able to pick a domain name that the search engines will pick up on.It will look like this http://whateveryouwant.blogspot.com.Take your time and pick a good name.

#2Next you are going to learn to write articles and join article submission companies.Don't let this scare you.It is easier than you think.They can be about anything you feel confident talking about.Stay at home moms can write about child raising.Men can write about good fishing techniques.It doesn't matter what type of articles you write about.What matters is the link you put in your articles that direct people back to your blog site.It is a little box called "resource box" or "about the author".You are going to post your articles with articles directories and on your blog site.Set a goal for yourself. Weekly I will join 3 article submission companies and write one article.Something according to the time you have to work every week.Every time you post to your blog you are going to use a little tool called pingomatic.com/ which simply lets the search engines know you have a new post.After a little while you will get the viral effect going as people start sharing your articles.You'll be amazed how effective this is.

#3You are also going to be able to do link exchanges with other sites.Go to Google and punch in "link exchange with other websites" or anything along those lines.You will have a few million possibilities to choose from.After you pick one in your back office (or dashboard area)of your blog you will see posts,settings,layout.Click on layout.Then click add a page element.Then you will see html/javascript which is where you will paste any html you have copied from sites you want to link with.Don't do too many as this will make your blog look tacky.This is also where you paste banners from your affiliate back office.Paste it here and there it is on your blog.Simple!Now you are getting hits from other sites.

#4 Another way of getting free targeted hits to your new blog(and of course your affiliate site which is on your blog)is to participate in forums.All the articles sites I suggested earlier have forums on them also you can join or once again punch "discussion business forums" or "message board about marketing" into google.In your profile area (on these article sites or message boards)you will have a box called signature.This is where you put your blog url.Some of them have codes to make them click able when you post but you'll figure it out.Usually it means putting [URL] in front of your blog url and something similar at the back.Once you figure it out start posting to these discussions and don't be afraid to ask questions.But be sincere a don't say anything too offensive.This is of course another way to get your link out there in cyberspace.These discussions don't go away and it's like they are trapped in time for future surfers.Set a goal like 2 posts a day and watch what happens over a month or two.If your affiliate program has key code tracking you will be able to see where your hits are coming from.

So there are a few solid ways I bet you didn't know about.Pace yourself financially before you start your own home business.It is a learning curve that takes time.Get going and remember we eat an elephant one bite at a time.

3 comments:

Maria said...

Hi Lance, great post! Wanted to drop by and thank you for that article database link. What a great resource. BTW, I've added you to my Blog Network. Have a great one! - Maria

Anita Lott Moore said...

I came across a website called Ad-Sense.com and it seems to be a complete source for information about using Google to make money as an affiliate. Do your readers know of other resources for a newbie to learn, compare and review all the affiliate options related to Google AdSense and AdWords?

Peter Lee said...

Good Article.
I just started a viral link exchange called “Reciprocal Review Carousel” involving a review of your favorite blogs and have seen an increase in traffic to my blog recently. Do take a look at how this is done and hope you will join this “carousel” and start to get viral links to your blog.

http://www.peterleehc.com/blog/work-from-home/how-to-get-viral-traffic-to-your-blog

Peter Lee
Home Business Ideas