I'm tired of Guru's

How exactly do I do this? I understand the book part. What about all the changes Google made? Are they as bad as the Gurus want us to think or will the old school SEO tactics still work fine? Again I dont get what your saying in the quote above.

Thats my biggest problem!!! ME! Because I have no idea what I'm doing I'm doing nothing. I feel like a deer in the headlights. I know I need to move but am paralyzed by not knowing WHAT to do.

Congratulations! You get the "Most Useless, Unhelpful Post of the Day Award."

Why bother posting at all? If you have some substance behind that answer, then elaborate. Otherwise, don't bother posting in the first place.

jdynars,

Getting traffic will ALWAYS be something you need to do for the life of your business.

Some points about getting traffic:

1. Basically, you can divide your traffic activities into two categories: 1) short-term and 2) long-term. You need both.

Pay-per-click (PPC) traffic costs money and is GREAT for getting a jumpstart and seeing results NOW (like, in just 15 minutes). There are free traffic methods too, like articles, but they are much slower and are a more long-term traffic strategy.

You need both.

2. Focus on WHO your target audience is and go where they are.

That is, too many people in the IM space focus on other IMers and give traffic resources that are really only for IMers, which is of NO help if your target audience is NOT other IMers or biz-op seekers! (Note the suggestions here on the WF. Almost every single suggestion assumes you're targeting other IMers.)

That said, here's a list of 15 different traffic methods. It's not an exhaustive list, but it will keep you busy for a long time to come.

1. Search Engines and Directories
2. PPC advertising
3. Your own e-zine
4. Your articles on other e-zines and websites
5. Ads on other websites
6. Ads in other e-zines
7. Online forums and discussion groups
8. Recommendations by other e-zine publishers (cross promotion)
9. Recommendations by other site owners
10. Affiliate programs
11. Your e-mail sig file
12. Exposure in radio, print and TV
13. Live speaking to groups
14. Postcard mailings
15. Social Media
16. Joint ventures

The mistake many Warriors make is trying to do it ALL. They end up exhausted, with no results. The key is to focus on just a handful (say 5) and do them over and over again. Do not rely on just 1 method! So pick the methods that best fit YOUR business and audience. Remember to include 1-2 fast-traffic methods and make the other 3 more long-term strategies.

It's VERY IMPORTANT to understand the online marketing process first. Online success is pretty basic and follows the same basic process for everyone, no matter what niche they're in:

Traffic > Opt-in page (to build your list) > Autoresponder series (or e-zine) (to follow up with your list) > Sales page

A sample traffic list could look like this:

1. Social Media
2. PPC
3. Direct mail
4. JVs
5. Video

So those traffic sources lead to your follow up systems like this:

1. E-zine/newsletter
2. E-mail
3. Direct mail

Which then lead to the actual conversion (sales) points like these:

1. Solo ads
2. Teleseminars
3. Webinars
4. Direct mail

These are where actual presentations and offers are made. They are generally the point of sale, where someone makes a decision to buy. To be successful with traffic, you need to reverse engineer the process and know where you're going before you start. Whether you're leading to a webinar, teleseminar or whatever will influence what traffic methods you use.

With all of that said, here are some resources for learning how to get traffic:

1. Kim Roach of MyTrafficMentor.com offers a good course for learning how to get traffic. Check out her information at Traffic LIVE!

2. Ana Hoffman at Get BIG Website Traffic for Small Budgets | TrafficGenerationCafe.com also offers a cornucopia of traffic-getting help and information.

For help with Facebook ads and general Facebook marketing, check out:

3. Michelle Pescosolido of Social Media Mastery

4. Ben Adkins of Evil Facebook Magician at Facebook Magician | Secrets To Getting Attention... Fast

Beware: Often, traffic generation info is geared to other IMers, so they'll give you resources geared to that. If your audience is other IMers, fine. If not, be wary and choose people who can help you get the traffic you need. Don't waste time, money and effort getting unqualified traffic.

Once you get started, you'll see recommendations for other resources. If it makes sense for your audience and business, then do it. If not, don't, no matter how bright and shiny the newest, latest, greatest offer is.

Hope that helps!

Michelle

VERY helpful, This is going to become one of my most visited favorites. I cant believe this is free info.

You can hire a real, legitimate SEO firm to do the work on one site. They will provide reports delineating what's been done. Repeat those steps yourself for other sites if you want to, ultimately, do the work yourself.

Listen to Victor, excellent advice, his setup is very similar to the one we use, and no, we don't expect instant traffic.

Thanks everyone keep answering and Ill keep reading. I really liked several of your ideas and I will start TAKING action. One other question kind of off topic but sill preached by he gurus. Will an affiliate business ever run on auto pilot after you build a traffic stream?

Exactly -- think like a business... not an "IM'er."

I love training hunting dogs and wicca. The sites I have up now are dog related, 3 sites are mainly landing pages for an online dog training course, a raw food diet how too ebook, and my favorite electronic training collar. I have another site dedicated to Labrador Retrievers, that site has about 20 articles and is recommending a dog training course as well.

The dog training niche is so saturated and I really think more folks just want a few free tips. I am getting ready to do a site or two on Wicca and Witchcraft. This is a much less promoted niche and I think will be easier and cheaper to promote. I love this topic as well but not quite as much as the dog stuff.

The problem with what you are asking is that the real gurus, the ones that don't consider themselves gurus at all and can drive traffic to any site imaginable are the ones that you need and they won't divulge any of their secrets as those techniques are their livelihood.

Your best bet would be to outsource the SEO and social marketing aspects of your sites and just focus on good content.

There are several very good companies out there that can bring you traffic in droves, you need to focus on what that traffic sees when they get there.