The Marketing Blues...

by greggb
6 replies
Today I finished my best website ever. I mean, things really came together. It's a tool for a niche market.

I posted a link to it at another forum where I've been allowed to post projects before. About 5 minutes later it was moved to a dark corner in the basement, figuratively speaking. I tried casually mentioning it again in reply to another thread, as a free tool the OP should check out (and it is a free tool). That time it was cast into oblivion, without prejudice.

During my 6.4 minutes of fame I got a little traffic, with the best analytics I've personally experienced. Very low bounce rate, high number of pages/visit, etc.

Tonight I'm feeling really frustrated because now that the links are gone at the forum, it's nothing but crickets. And that's the story of my life, as far as my endeavors on the internet go. I have two blogs that I've put put a lot of work into that just twiddling their thumbs in cyberspace. All because I really don't know how to go about marketing.

I can feel my blood pressure rise when I think about marketing. I dread the thought of it. Yet, I know it's something I have to do.

I'm horrible when it comes to social marketing, or pretty much anything social.

That would seem to leave writing, which is something I believe I'm pretty decent at, for whatever my opinion is worth.

I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction for marketing my sites. Like I said, I don't mind putting some work in...I just need to be able to at least partially believe that my efforts won't be in vain; that it's not a complete waste of my time.

I read more and more that you shouldn't write articles for the sake of back-links, but instead the traffic that will come from people who read your articles and want to know more. I'm totally cool with that! I imagine that with that approach you'd acquire some natural links along the way.

I'm all for producing high-quality content. So what's the best way to get started, and what can I realistically expect? Or would there be a better option for someone like me?

Thanks,
Gregg
#blues #marketing
  • Profile picture of the author Roth
    Banned
    There's more to marketing a website than just posting {spamming} links on a forum.

    Do you have a sales funnel in place? If not, marketing the site will be in vain. You need your money making "system" in place before you start getting people to see it. Otherwise you'll waste the traffic.

    And stop spamming other forums. Forums are social gatherings...not billboards for ads.

    You'll also need a marketing plan in place.

    Sales funnel -->Marketing strategy--> Execution --> Evaluate --> Adjust --> Repeat
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    • Profile picture of the author Michael Shook
      You can alleviate your marketing blues by learning how to market on social media. Its a skill that can be learned.

      To do really well there, on Facebook for sure, you will need to invest in some paid advertising. On Twitter, you can still do pretty well without paid ads; depending on your goal.
      Signature


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    • Profile picture of the author greggb
      Originally Posted by Roth View Post

      There's more to marketing a website than just posting {spamming} links on a forum.

      Do you have a sales funnel in place? If not, marketing the site will be in vain. You need your money making "system" in place before you start getting people to see it. Otherwise you'll waste the traffic.

      And stop spamming other forums. Forums are social gatherings...not billboards for ads.

      You'll also need a marketing plan in place.

      Sales funnel -->Marketing strategy--> Execution --> Evaluate --> Adjust --> Repeat
      You make a lot of assumptions in your response here. First of all, sharing a free resource at a forum with people who genuinely find it useful isn't spamming. A couple of members pm-ed and thanked me for sharing the resource with them. A number of people have returned and used the site, not even 24 hours later.

      Second of all, you assume that I'm selling something, which I made pretty clear that I wasn't in my OP. I guess I should have drawn a picture and uploaded it.

      I just need some basic direction on getting more traffic to the site, most likely by article marketing.
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  • Profile picture of the author owenlee
    Originally Posted by greggb View Post

    Today I finished my best website ever. I mean, things really came together. It's a tool for a niche market.

    I posted a link to it at another forum where I've been allowed to post projects before. About 5 minutes later it was moved to a dark corner in the basement, figuratively speaking. I tried casually mentioning it again in reply to another thread, as a free tool the OP should check out (and it is a free tool). That time it was cast into oblivion, without prejudice.

    During my 6.4 minutes of fame I got a little traffic, with the best analytics I've personally experienced. Very low bounce rate, high number of pages/visit, etc.

    Tonight I'm feeling really frustrated because now that the links are gone at the forum, it's nothing but crickets. And that's the story of my life, as far as my endeavors on the internet go. I have two blogs that I've put put a lot of work into that just twiddling their thumbs in cyberspace. All because I really don't know how to go about marketing.

    I can feel my blood pressure rise when I think about marketing. I dread the thought of it. Yet, I know it's something I have to do.

    I'm horrible when it comes to social marketing, or pretty much anything social.

    That would seem to leave writing, which is something I believe I'm pretty decent at, for whatever my opinion is worth.

    I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction for marketing my sites. Like I said, I don't mind putting some work in...I just need to be able to at least partially believe that my efforts won't be in vain; that it's not a complete waste of my time.

    I read more and more that you shouldn't write articles for the sake of back-links, but instead the traffic that will come from people who read your articles and want to know more. I'm totally cool with that! I imagine that with that approach you'd acquire some natural links along the way.

    I'm all for producing high-quality content. So what's the best way to get started, and what can I realistically expect? Or would there be a better option for someone like me?

    Thanks,
    Gregg
    Where are you Alexa Smith?

    Taking advice with Alexa Smith will never go wrong
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  • Profile picture of the author PerformanceMan
    Pay for targeted traffic (ads) and send them to well thought out and defined sales funnels. That's the quickest path to seeing returns for your efforts.
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  • Profile picture of the author discrat
    Originally Posted by greggb View Post


    I can feel my blood pressure rise when I think about marketing. I dread the thought of it. Yet, I know it's something I have to do.

    I'm horrible when it comes to social marketing, or pretty much anything social.
    Hey Gregg,
    If you really dread it that much, in all seriousness, this might not be the right business for you.

    Most of us here have a deep passion for Marketing. I know I do.

    If it is not in your blood and you can't get excited about it then reevaluate things



    - Robert Andrew
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