Full-time income using free traffic methods -- am I calling a myth on the carpet?

[apatters]

As I've gradually crept toward earning a full-time income online I've come to believe that free traffic methods are NOT the way to do it. In fact I think it's very hard to do it that way, if not impossible.

The issue with free traffic methods--article marketing, social networking, link building, etc., is that it takes a LOT of work and often a lot of expertise to drive a high volume of targeted traffic over the long term with these things.

And while you CAN invest that time and energy--you can also pay to have someone else do it. This frees up your time so you can split test your sites, build your lists, develop a backend for recurring profits, create an organization that makes money for you while you sleep...

In retrospect it seems like traffic generation was the last thing I should have spent my own time on, when I could have been spending it creating and improving more offers.

Am I way out in left field here -- or has a lightbulb just gone off in my head? Is there anyone out there who's making a fulltime income without paying for traffic either directly (like PPC) or indirectly (like outsourcers building links, writing articles etc.)?

PS: NOT counting people in the IM niche, there's so much money floating around on forums like WF it's ridiculous! I bet you can make great money with free traffic from IM forums, but I think in other niches it's much much harder.

[apatters]

I'd sure like to know what that $10,000 per article niche is

That's a good point though, some niches are certainly more lucrative than others!

[Chris Kent]

Apart from PPC and article marketing, I'm curious to know what else you outsource?

I know that many "manual" methods of traffic building are not sustainable which is why I have turned to the affiliate model as I believe this delivers the best "bang per buck".

[Alp Bozkurt]

Article marketing, forum marketing etc are low volume traffic sources.

You have to take massive action on them for nice traffic. But you don't have enough hours to do it yourself.

Using automated tools helps to some degree.

The best option is getting those tools and outsourcing the use of them.

If you have a couple of virtual assistants who rewrite articles for you with a speed rewriting tool, submit to bookmarking sites, article & video sites with auto submit tools, wouldn't you dominate any niche in no time?

[cashcow]

I think you can do it yourself for free, but it could take quite a bit of time and effort.

It also depends on the niches you pick and the business plan you have. I think Steve W (too early in the AM to try to spell his last name) does all his traffic generation himself and he seems pretty successful, right? But I bet he has put in a crapload of hours on it too.

Having said that, I agree with you that if you want to make more money sooner, then you need to use tools and outsourcers that automate the tasks of traffic generation.

It's always been kind of mind boggling to me when people don't want to invest money in their business in order to grow it.

Lee

[cowy]

I use free methods (except the domain and hosting) and earn full time income, well at least much better than average fresh graduate wages in my country.

What I do:
- Blogging, create niche blogs and maintain it.
- Article marketing with Squidoo

However, now I outsource the content creation due it takes lots of time. I still create squidoo lens myself, but some article in the lens are made by outsourced content writer
Sometimes I pay people to build links using dofollow comments, but usually I managed the SEO myself.

Because I using free methods (No PPC), I usually use 10%-15% from my income to pay article writer, dofollow commentator, domain and Hosting. So usually I get 1000% ROI if you don't include it as Free mathod

[Jon Alexander]

yeah, there comes a point where your time is better spent than doing something manually that is easy to automate, even if it costs a few bucks. Unless you think your time is virtually worthless, of course.

[FreeMe.com]

The analogy I like to use is this...

You are either going to spend time or money.

Article marketing (and perhaps a few other free traffic sources, but primarily article marketing) is like growing a business organically. It usually requires the least amount of start up funds and you can typically do it without going into debt.

It's a good way to build a business if you are strapped for cash, or prefer not to "invest".

The second way is using PPC, or other paid advertising sources for traffic. It's kind of like investing in an existing business or franchise.

It's faster for sure, but there is a cost and an inherent financial risk. If you pick the wrong keyword or write the wrong article it won't cost you anything but time. If you pick the wrong keyword or write the wrong ad, you could lose 100% of whatever you have invested in PPC.

Ultimately the answer is dependent on the individual. I like using PPC to validate that I have the right offer, landing page, copy, keywords, etc. Ultimately, being in the top SERPs (organic search rankings) will generate much more traffic than any advertising will.

At the end of the day... articles win if you are going for the most profit. You just have to be patient and continue writing great content for your niche market. PPC wins if you are looking for the least amount of hours of actual work up front, just be aware of the financial risks.

[Brad Gosse]

I have an employee who does all my content creation and posting. We still do 90% of our marketing on the free side.

I usually buy traffic to test offers. If I can profit on that traffic I keep buying, if I come close I focus on free sources and if I lose money I can the offer.

[Quentin]

You guys need to read this as this man makes a lot of money and is well respected and never pays for traffic.

How to Build a High-Traffic Web Site (or Blog)

Steve Pavlina

I have followed this method too and while do not get the 171,000 visits a month he gets I am well on my way.




Also remember he is one and we are many.

Quentin

[Paul Davidson]

Hi, i am new to internet marketing and am planning (more likely hopeing) to make a living online. I have very limited webmaster skills so i decided as this is a business that i am trying to build i would need to invest money when i dont have the required skills. So i have outsourced the building of a few websites, as this is the only way i will get quality sites.

As for traffic, well since i think ppc (adwords) will become harder and harder to turn a profit from because of the amount of people on the latest instruction courses i.e. The Arbitrage Conspiracy, Google Cash Detective, and PPC Classroom etc etc.

So i have decided to go for free traffic from organic listings and articles (again i believe because of my lack of experience i will have to outsource this task, or take up some mentoring, which i like the sound of) etc etc in the hope i can attain enough traffic to generate an income that is enough to live off within 6 months turning into a good living after that.

Good luck all

Paul

[123rlp]

Thank you Quentin I will check that link out after I get up. I still work a 3rd shift job.It is nice to know that smothing like this is out their but how realistic is it for the average Joe.I gues I will find out when I get up in about 8 hours.I will think positive,you know whare theirs a will theirs a way.Good nite,good nite, good nite.

[Daniel Flower]

I personally love viral marketing. The beauty of it is that you do the work once and if you have a high quality report it can generate you traffic for years AND it's free. I also wouldn't underestimate the power of forum marketing. If you make posts that genuinely help people then you're looking at a lot of traffic, but of course you have to keep at it.

Personally whenever I've tried paid-for methods of advertising I've always lost money BUT I know that plenty of people make lots of money from doing it that way so I know it DOES work, it's just that it's not really my area of expertise.

I think most methods DO work (obviously to varying degrees) but of course it's simply about doing it in the right way and on the right level.

Dan