Traffic.
Traffic.
People still find their biggest problem is traffic.
Heck, many people feel like their ONLY problem is traffic. However, you know, I’ve done quite a bit of consulting and coaching over the years, and I have found that traffic is rarely the only problem people are having.
Not always of course, and there is some really bad traffic out there, so finding good traffic can be challenging sometimes. But what I have found is that most people who say traffic is their problem, actually have a few other problems that they need to figure out.
People are ready to jump into paid traffic solutions FAR too early, and far too eager to throw their own money at problems that they really aren’t ready to solve.
I believe that when you are first getting started in digital publishing, it’s a really good idea to build your business using free methods until you start making some money, and you understand what your business is and how it works.
Also, when you finally are ready for paid ads, operate under an ad spend budget, even if it’s only $100 a month. That money should come from your business revenue, not your own pocket.
If your business cannot afford $100 a month in ad spend then you have no business running paid advertising in my opinion. Notice, I said “your business” not you.
It’s a simple benchmark that assumes your business is making some kind of regular income. Many might disagree with me, and many more might say I’m talking about moving too slow, but I am speaking from experience.
It’s very easy to just lose money and get frustrated with solo ads and paid traffic if you don’t know what you are doing. I think there are levels to this game. YOu have to crawl before you can walk.
Everybody wants to start out as a level 60 dragon slayer. It’s nonsense. It’s unrealistic, and you’ll be exploited by b2b traffic businesses who will be more than happy to take your money.
Anyways, I’ll tell you the best traffic source on the internet. That’s a warm email list.
But how do you get this warm email list?
In my opinion, plan to spend your first year launching 6 to 12 lot ticket products with funnels. That will build some infrastructure for your business. Create some assets for yourself and boost your authority in the space.
More importantly though, it will build a customer email list for you. That is the most important thing you can do.
Launch these low ticket products from an affiliate friendly platform like WarriorPlus, Clickbank, or JVZOO. This will allow you to build an affiliate network and drive referral traffic to your sales pages.
The next thing I would suggest is utilizing Youtube and Facebook. They are literally the biggest websites in the world behind Google. Your market is absolutely represented there.
Consider the fact that Youtube gets 35.1 BILLION visitors a month. It’s the second most popular website in the entire WORLD, only behind Google.
Consider the fact that Facebook gets 19.5 BILLION visitors a month. It’s the third most popular website in the ENTIRE WORLD, only behind Youtube and Google.
I want to put it in perspective for you how significant these websites are for free traffic and audience building.
Facebook get’s a lot of slack right now as of this writing. People are all talking about Tik Tok being the big Facebook killer and how Facebook is dying.
It’s nonsense. These people don’t look at numbers.
Consider that the 4th most popular website in the world is Instagram (which facebook owns) and it gets around 6.6 BILLION visitors a month…
The 5th most popular website in the world is Twitter, and it gets around 7.1 BILLION visitors a month…
And then the golden child of today, Tik Tok, which everyone is talking about gets around 2 BILLION visitors a month.
I mean, look…
Facebook is literally getting more visitors a month than Tik Tok, Instagram, and Twitter combined. These platforms are just not on the same level as Facebook, let alone Youtube.
So my point is when it comes to free traffic, if you are just getting started and trying to make a name for yourself, you should seriously consider publishing free content consistently on Facebook and Youtube.
That’s just my opinion, but it’s backed by my experience and numbers. Of course, believe what you want and do what you want, but if you want to see what I see…
All you need to do is open up Google trends and compare these platforms for popularity.
Open up Similar Web and check the traffic numbers of these platforms. Numbers don’t lie. Hype is sometimes just hype.
There is nothing wrong with the new kid on the block and of course you have to roll with whatever feels most comfortable to you as far as getting free traffic from social platforms.
All I’m saying is, for me personally I like to see the entire picture when I am creating strategies for my business. The whole picture is that Youtube and Facebook are rock solid from month to month, and pretty much all markets exist in these two places.
I’m not going to give a bunch of specific traffic tactics here, because you can easily find traffic tactics for youtube and facebook (not to mention a bunch of other platforms) right on Youtube.
But speaking generally, yeah if someone was just getting started, I would plan my free traffic strategies around Facebook and Youtube. I would utilize live streaming, and I would put a focus on building my email list.
Alright, those are some of my thoughts on free traffic right now. I have one more letter I want to write for you, and an important message in that letter.
For now though, think about these traffic concepts, get out there and take action!
Dominus Owen Markham