Serious help! please

My first piece of advice would be:

don't make promises beyond your abilities. don't promise anything that you're not capable of delivering.

That being said, you appear to be in a bind here. I think your first move would be yes, getting some advice off the WF, but your most important move would be doing some serious SEO and traffic generation research both on and off the WF (Google as an example of off the WF).

First, see what advice you can get from your thread.

Second, take a look at this URL here on the WF:

http://www.warriorforum.com/make-money-online/

There's several free eBooks right on the first page that you can use that deal exclusively with generating traffic for websites.

Third, use the WF's "search forums" feature so that you can get to a thread that has covered all of this already.

Lastly, I would caution you with your plan of setting up Twitter and Facebook pages for this business -- it's a good idea of course, but you STILL have to get traffic to the Twitter and Facebook pages before you can re-direct that traffic to your intended target (the client's website). Focus on getting direct and immediate traffic to the client's website (quality traffic I would also remind you).

Remember, traffic generation is composed of various groups: there's organic and inorganic traffic; there are ways to build both! It takes time to get quality, sustainable traffic to a website. You should inform your client of this -- it takes time.

But cram and do your homework -- take notes and from those notes you can develop an impressive action plan to present to your client!

Hi,

Get this business indexed with google places/maps- this will get them visible with local searches.

Next, get their FB fan page up and promote something special for the FB fans. 10% off coupon or receive $5.00 off... this will bring in very targeted traffic and convert to customers. Find how to set up a FB fan page in any of these forums.

Peace.

If you are new to the whole internet marketing I will help you so you can give your client value. Send me a pm I am from NY also.

Send me a pm. I have great ideas that I would love to share with you!

There's probably thousands of threads on this forum about how to drive traffic to a website.

Do a quick search on the forum for "traffic", you'll be pleasantly surprised.

I guess the question is what will I be able to provide for them? I am a freelancing jumping from internet marketing, email marketing, and more...I dont know my limitations yet

I was planning on getting traffic to there site by social networking, bookmarking and well thats all I could think of?

Just a word of advice on the above, if I may.

In a word; don't. "Where" they are hosting has nothing to do with traffic.

Furthermore, in convincing them to switch, you are sort of implying the desire to help them migrate, which may not be your technical expertise (don't know if you like to move websites but since this is your first experience with a self-hosted site, I'd say probably not your forte ).

Respectfully; stay within your realm of expertise and set clearly defined goals within the scope of what you are planning to actually DO (and can/will deliver) for the client's immediate concern (driving traffic), instead of trying to run an aspect of their business that has no bearing on that goal.

Focus on immediate impact to THAT goal, and deliver. This is where you will shine, and your client will be happier with your service.

Very true! You make some great points I guess right now I don`t know what I would do to drive traffic to this site. The niche is on the completely opposite side of my targeted audience so it would be like I am starting from zero

haha thats kinda funny ... to me..

Anyways thank you for your replys guys I knew you guys will be able to support me with this.. its the very first time ill be able to get knees deep in internet marketing

Congratulations on landing a new client!

To hold onto the new client and also to get some follow up business beyond that I suggest keeping client communication as one of your top priorities.

For instance for my clients I always not only tell them what I'm going to do but tell them why such as building business profiles for links to their main site. Once they understand why and what you're doing suddenly it makes more sense to them and they have less anxiety over the process and are apt to do more business with you later.

Also, start with recording some baseline measurements or metrics such as Alexa traffic rank and pages indexed in Google, so that you can show them progress along the way after you've done some more work.

Communicate some realistic expectations and you'll always have a good relationship with your clients.

Hi Tonylee93,

Congrats on the forthcoming opportunity! As a lifelong entrepreneur I've started and built a number of businesses in multiple industries over the years...and it doesn't matter how many times I do it - getting the first client is always a BIG deal, and if you handle it right, it could be the beginning of a great business that not only delivers value to your clients, but helps you accomplish your goals and objectives as well.

That being said, I'll share a little "tip" someone told me when I started my first business over 20 years ago that's served me well...

If you want to be successful in business, you've got to remember three things:

1) Show-Up;
2) On-Time;
3) Prepared....

And I've added a couple of my own to that:

4) Do what you say you're going to do; and
5) Do a little bit more.

The last two are similar to some of the advice I've seen given a few times already, which is to stay within your expertise and don't make promises you can't keep. That's so important it's worth repeating. I always tell folks you want to UNDER COMMIT AND OVER DELIVER.

This has worked extremely well for me over the years and it set's you up to exceed customer expectations from the onset, and when you do - you've got happy customers. And happy customers stick with you and refer more business...so then you get more happy customers. Maintain this model long enough and you end up with what some of my current clients have, and that is they ONLY take referrals...and maintain 2-3 months worth of work consistently.

But on to your question about how to promote and drive traffic for your customer...

I see you already have some ideas and have gotten some excellent pointers and resources to refer to here in the WF. As you move forward with your freelancing business this Forum will prove to be an invaluable resource for you I'm sure...

But let's back up a minute, because at this juncture all you've shared with us is that this is a "seasonal business" that get's "bulk orders," and honestly - while "we" (being your fellow Warriors) can offer some generic advice on traffic generation, we can't provide any real specific value that you can deliver to your customer without knowing more.

Sure, there are some "rules of the road" and basics we can offer that's sound - but THERE IS NO ONE SIZE FITS ALL solution...and there's a lot more to consider than just the fact that the customer wants to "drive traffic" to their website.

Consider this if you will...

WHAT does the customer want this traffic to do when you drive them to their site?

- Do they want them to opt-in to a list?
- Do they want them to make a purchase?
- Do they just want them to "check out" their website?

What's the objective?

And what happens when you drive tons of traffic to their existing website but none of it converts?

Did you drive the right traffic that was interested in what they had to offer?

If not, it could be perceived your fault, and cause friction with the customer - or worse, the customer won't pay.

Does their site deliver a clear and compelling message that prompts visitors to take action?

If not, you could drive all the traffic in the world (figure of speech) and it does nothing for them - and then you could point the finger at them saying "your page doesn't convert" WHILE they're pointing it at you saying it was the "wrong kind of traffic."

Not a pretty situation in either case. I hope that makes sense...

You see, when you get down to it - as an entrepreneur/business owner and as someone who now serves the entrepreneurial and small business community - my experience is that it's NOT about the website, the traffic, the FB page, Twitter account, link building, SEO, mobile marketing, etc, etc... Nor is it about how much you tweet, post, comment, message, text, capture or even the number subscribers or opt-ins you add to the list. Heck, it's not even about hits, page views, click through, bounce rates or retention.

No - what we do as marketers - whether we're serving small businesses, entrepreneurs or brands - is about helping them achieve their objectives...and when it comes down to it, more often than not their ultimate objective is to grow their business/brand, make more money and become more profitable.

And yes, everything I mentioned above (and more) may be a part of that - but any single component in and of itself is pretty much worthless, and the RIGHT components for one type of business may be completely wrong and a total waste of time for another.

Take for example what @GMD said - sure, FB and Twitter are a good idea...but then you have to manage, connect and drive traffic there as well.

But what happens when your customer's target market doesn't hang out on Facebook or Twitter (just an example)?

If the audience isn't there, is there value in setting that up? (Not the best example I know - but something to consider.)

So in a short summary, if someone were to come to me and ask me to drive traffic, here is what I would do:

1) Ask questions to gain an understanding of their business and current market position

2) Ask them what their objectives are...are they looking to have this traffic opt-in to a list? Do they want them to make a purchase on the site? Do they want them to click through to something/somewhere else? Etc, etc... And then ask them what BENEFIT THEY THINK they will get in their business from that traffic taking that action (now you're gaining an understanding of how they think and what's driving them).

3) Ask them questions about who they want this traffic to be...Do they only want customers who are ready to buy? Do they want to target prospects in a certain stage of the buying cycle? (and how long is the typical buying cycle in their business) Do they want both? Do they want to target a certain segment of their market with a particular offer designed specifically for them?

4) Talk to them and ask them questions about their product/service...what is it? what are the features? what are the benefits? why would someone buy it? how do their customers use it? what problem/pain does their product/service solve for their customer? why would the customer buy from them over their competition? Is it based on price? quality? service? Will customers buying this product/service pay more for quality/service?

5) Ask them questions and get information on their current marketing efforts (online and offline). Get copies of promotional items, ads, brochures, sales scripts, etc... Find out how they track and how these efforts are working for them now and establish a "baseline" to measure against going forward. (If they don't track - recommend it...what gets measured gets done!)

6) Ask them what type of results they would find acceptable (increase in traffic / increase in opt-ins / increase in online sales / revenue growth / increased profitability / etc); explain to them that if all you're providing is a single component (drive traffic) of a larger mechanism (business growth through online sales that includes "all of the above and more"), all you can be accountable for is that portion they are tasking you to be responsible for...then define it and how you will be compensated VERY CLEARLY in your proposal so they can't fault (and not pay) you for something outside of your control

I'd also do this in a "conversational" manner, because what you're doing is just that - having a conversation designed to get you the information you need so you can best serve them and help them meet their objectives.

I could go on for hours here (25+ years worth of knowledge and hands on experience starting and growing businesses), but I think you get the idea.

Bottom line - don't put the cart before the horse. Before you can commit to driving traffic (or the right traffic) you've got to learn all you can about your customer, their products/services, where they are on a current basis, what their objectives are, who their target market is, and what motivates that market to take action.

And don't worry - it may seem like a lot, but you can get all this in a 20 minute conversation (or less), and if your customer is a "smart marketer" - you'll get all the information you need in a 30 second "elevator pitch" and their USP.

Then, once you're armed with the info you need you can start to identify the best way to drive VALUABLE traffic that is not only interested in what your customer has to offer, but will take the action they're looking for them to take.

And with a bit of research, you'll also be able to figure out where your customer's target market "hangs out" and the language they speak (keywords / niche specific terms). Armed with this information you can focus your efforts accordingly. Do they use Google? (who doesn't); are they on FB? Do they have any groups/forums/communities where they congregate? (should you form one?); can you connect with them on Twitter? LinkedIn? FourSquare? Gowalla? Yelp? Etc....(there is plenty of GREAT information in the Warrior Forum in the War Room and lots of WSO's on ALL these topics and more that can help as you go along).

Why not just build or set up all of them? Over time you may...but if I need apples right now I'm certainly not going to walk into the forest in hopes of finding an apple tree - I'm going to go find an apple orchard where I know there are hundreds of trees and thousands of apples.

It's the same thing here - find out where there's a high concentration of your target market and focus on the low hanging fruit (another search related subject in and of itself).

When you do you'll achieve better results in a shorter period of time for your client...making you not only a "hero," but more importantly an indispensable resource to their business.

I hope that helps!

Mark

How about PPC? SEO?

Stay away from godaddy unless you like nightmares.. They are the poorest excuse for a hosting service. If they did not do expensive marketing campaigns with the flaunting of hot chicks, they would not exist. Besides, why support the CEO who enjoys killing elephants?

Yeah, I heard about that a few time and I want to suggest that to my client but I personally don`t know how to change hosts and everything so I am best off trying to promote what the client has and not change that

You need to make a time table

Compeition
SEO
Social Networking

Good luck man first job is always exciting!

More clients and potential partners are on LinkedIn. You better get them an account for LinkedIn and work on visibility there. LinkedIn helps businesses grow in an indirect manner. You know, you have to work on so many things for advertising. Start with creating accounts for LinkedIn if you're looking for your target niche, then work on other sites to enlarge your network of customers. It may seem difficult but it's definitely not. All you have to do is work on it! Cheers!