| Generating traffic to your website is the
eternal quest of the on-line marketer. And there are as many
theories as there are marketers. Some people push new content,
some advocate high search engine rankings, many use pay-per-click,
and some even recommend writing articles! But these methods
are seeking traffic from the mass audience, like broadcasting
your advertising on a TV channel. But there are two methods
that send your advertising to self-selected audiences: forums
and safelists.
Forums are groups of people who are gathered around a specific
topic. There are forums for non-custodial fathers, marital
arts like karate or MMA, religious sects, and hobbies. The
overwhelming majority of people who join these forums do
so to be able to discuss the topics and get new ideas and
maybe meet people. Some forums are monitored by leaders who
have the authority to delete non-conforming messages, or
even kick people out. Some forums are not monitored at all,
and generally degrade into either a free-for-all or drift
slowly into an apathetic death. So an active, focused forum
is where you want to advertise. However, your product or
service MUST be related to the topic (or the members will
tag you a "spammer" and ignore you or kick you out).
Also, you cannot simply post ads. The most effective method
is to participate in the forum, and place a one-line advertisement
with a link in your signature. The key is to make relative,
informative, and cogent postings to the forum, so that other
members recognize that you have some expertise in the area,
which may inspire them to click on your link. Thus traffic
is born.
Safelists, on the other hand, are lists of members who agree
to accept email advertising from the other members of the
list. In this way, the members avoid getting spam (unsolicited
email containing advertising), while at the same time, getting
email containing advertising. These lists generally are not
focused on any topic, but have members who want to read your
advertising, especially if it is related to on-line marketing
or business. The key here is to have a headline or subject
line on the email that you send to the list, to inspire the
members to open your email. A sales letter that hits the
emotional hot-buttons is vital to getting the safelist member
to click to your website. Also, giving something away for
free gets visitors to your website.
So which one is better? Forums generally will drive fewer
visitors (because you will only get a percentage of the people
who read and are interested in your signature, not your entire
posting), and it takes time to develop that "expert" reputation.
Safelists may get you more traffic, but it usually is in
the form of "window shoppers" rather than serious buyers,
because the email is designed to pique their curiosity, not
necessarily their interest.
My experience is that if you have a highly focused product,
like a resource for non-custodial fathers, your website will
get visitors who are more motivated to purchase from forums.
On the other hand, if your product is of general application,
or related to internet marketing, safelists will produce
more traffic, which you can capture (to build a list), but
not necessarily more sales.
The solution, obviously, is to use both. But make sure you
spend your time in the arena that's going to return the traffic
you want. You can have 500 visitors and 50 sales or 10,000
visitors and 5 sales. I've had both. I'll take the sales.
So will you.
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