Nick's Traffic Tricks » make money

Traffic Is Not Enough – 8 Ways to Make Money with Niche Sites

Nick — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 21:27:32 +0000

Getting traffic is only half the battle. Turning visitors into money is the other half. Unfortunately most people are unable to look beyond the I just need more traffic half of the equation.

Steve Scott has written an informative post that will show you 8 ways to to turn your traffic into money.
Read: 8 Ways to Make Money with Niche Sites

Traffic is not enough (You need to make money!)

Nick — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 13:00:57 +0000

For 99% of people reading my blog, traffic is not an end goal but rather a means to an end. At the end of the day you want traffic that will make you money, right?

Today I am sharing a few resources that will help you grow your business and make you money.

Pick a product

Make a plan

Writing Tools

Spread the word & get Traffic

Want The “Right” Kind Of Traffic? Answer These 5 Questions

Nick — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 00:17:13 +0000

You don’t want just any traffic; you want traffic that clicks on your ads, buys your products, and signs up for your email list.

You want traffic that converts.

So, how do you get traffic that converts??

5 Most Important Questions

These questions are at the core of every successful online business, and if you can answer them then you can get traffic that converts.

What exactly am I selling?
You cannot make money without a product/service to sell. Subway sells sandwiches, the New York Times sells advertising space, and I challenge you to find a successful business that doesn’t have something to sell.
Who desperately wants what I am selling?
99.9% of people have no interest in what you’re selling. So who DOES want it? Who desperately wants it and will actually pay for it?
Where can I find lots of these people?
Where do they get together online/offline?
Where do they live?
What forums, blogs, newspapers, magazines do they read?
What groups or social organizations do they belong to?
What other products do these people buy?
Where do they shop?
How will I connect those people with the product I am selling?
How can I leverage the forums, blogs, newspapers, magazines they read and get targeted traffic?
How can I bundle my product with a product these people are already selling?
People who buy my product will likely know other people that want my product. Should I invite customers to be affiliates?

So, do you know exactly what you’re selling?

If you cannot answer this with a definite “Yes” then you don’t have a business and a lack of traffic is not your real problem.

Before you do keyword research, seo, build backlinks, etc you must know precisely what you are selling!

But Nick, I really want to get traffic first and then figure out what I’m selling.

You want traffic that converts into sales and that means knowing exactly what you’re selling and precisely who will buy it (and 99.9% of people do NOT want to buy it).

Wouldn’t it be a shame if you spent hundreds of hours building a website and thousands of dollars with an SEO company, only to find that your top Google ranking drove tons of traffic to your website but the traffic never bought anything?

Case Study: My Famous Quotes

One of my first domains was myfamousquotes.com and I thought “I’ll get traffic first and then figure out what to sell later.”

Years later it gets consistent traffic but struggles to make more than a couple dollars a day because I cannot find anything that visitors to the site desperately want.

Learn 20 Ways To Earn $100 Every Day [click here]

Biggest Absolute Failure

In 2008 I did an experiment to see how fast I could rank for the low competition keyword phrase: Biggest Absolute Failure.

As I recall, it only took a couple hours and 3 years later I am still #1 in Google.

But guess how much traffic that #1 ranking generates. It’s 1 visitor per week.

And even if it were generating loads of traffic, what would I sell to people searching Google for Biggest Absolute Failure? I have no idea!

But Nick, what if no one will buy my product?

Then you have learned something important. If no one wants your product then stop wasting time with it and find something else to sell.

But Nick, How do I find a product that people will spend money on?

Excellent question. You have to notice the people around you and what they regularly spend money on.

Also notice what causes them pain or discomfort and makes them say, “I’d pay $100 if someone would help me fix/remove/cure x.”

Another route is to look at what products are currently selling well and sell those. I have a few videos that cover how to do this:

So, do you know what you’re selling?

Seriously, do you?

5 Strategies for a Cash-Converting Blog Posts

Nick — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 11:00:08 +0000

Photo by stevoarnold

Some people think that just because blogs are known for brevity, it means they don’t have to put any meat into their content. Actually, the exact opposite is true – you have a very short span of time to create value for your readers.

Here’s what you need to do if you want your blog to build your subscriber list, convert sales and brand you as an expert in your niche:

1. Less is more.

Blog posts aren’t meant to be scrolling on for 24 pages like a sales pitch does. People want quick tidbits of information they can put into action immediately. Stick to 250-400 words per post Max.

2. Create your headlines and content with both search engines and human visitors in mind.

Yes, you want to use keywords in your blog posts, to attract SE spiders so their users can find you! But you also want to write for your human audience, so make sure your headlines are appealing and your content isn’t so stuffed with keywords that it’s awkward to get through.

3. Use bullet points or numbered lists so your visitors can quickly scan your blog for good information.

Just like a sales letter, bullet lists are what readers quickly turn to when they want to know whether or not your site is worth reading in-depth. Magazines use the sale technique, so emulate their style.

4. Don’t be all over the map.

Have a plan in place for your blog posts and be consistent with your voice. If you outsource to freelance writers, then make sure you edit the post so it matches your voice before you make it public.

5. Use your blog as a pre-sell hot spot.

This is your platform to voice your opinion and warm up your audience. Nothing will excite your readers more than your passion for the product, so make sure it comes through – and don’t forget to add your links!

If you employ the five fundamental blog post techniques, you’ll be catering to the needs of your target audience. Brevity and bullet points help them save time while still getting value.

Crafty headlines with just enough keyword-laden content will serve as perfect attractors for the search engine bots and your visitors will see your enthusiasm shine through so that your links keep the sales funnel flowing.

We’ve entered an era where peer socialization and personal recommendations trump hard hitting sales copy, so you have to take care to ensure that your blog follows the perfect formula for success.

What I wish I had known when I first started in Internet Marketing

Nick — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 11:00:55 +0000

Photo by woodleywonderworks

What I wish I had known when I first started in Internet Marketing…

At the core of making money online is 2 things: traffic & conversions.

Without traffic to your sites you’ll never make money.

And all the traffic in the world will do no good if it never converts.

Learn all you can about these 2 things. Become a jedi master at these.

Build an email list and you’ll be able to dramatically increase your traffic and conversions. My email list is a great source of traffic for me. I also use it to increase conversions for things I am selling/promoting.

Partnering with others can help you build your list quickly, which leads to more traffic and conversions.
Partnering with others can help you get more traffic.
Partnering with others can help you increase your conversions, build your credibility, and build your brand.

Build a network of people who are good at things you are not.

Build a brand.

Every web page you build should have a purpose. It may be to get people to opt in to your list, sell a product or whatever. Before you build a page define its purpose and that will define how you should be build/layout the page.

Test, test, test! Think your squeeze page converts as well as it can? You’ll never know until you test.

Be remarkable. Do something that gets people talking about you. Seth Godin explains this well in an 18 minute video:
http://www.nickstraffictricks.com/seth-godin-sliced-bread-and-other-marketing-delights/

Presentation is everything. The best prooduct doesn’t always win, but the best presented product frequently wins.

Read the Warrior Forum frequently. Everyday people post gems that will help you be more successful.

Ask questions. Ask lots of them. Just remember specific questions get specific answers. If you ask something like “How do I make money?” you’ll get answers like Sell stuff or Make a product and build a list. These are not very helpful to a newbie.

Play nice. Sounds cheesy but a little kindness goes a long way. Be nice to people who are jerks too.

Take the time to learn a few basics on the topics: HTML, CSS, SEO, copy writing, buying a domain, how to host your domain, FTP.

Treat others the way you wanted to be treated. If you want to be paid for your hard work then don’t look for ways to cheat others so you can save a buck.

There are lots of people making money online. Read what they are saying but more importantly watch very carefully what they DO. It’s their actions that are lining their pockets with gold.

There is a ton of money to made connecting people with other people or products.

Sites like myspace, facebook, classmates, etc connect people with other people.

Sites like ebay, craigslist, amazon, half, froogle, etc connect people with products.

Sites like Warrior Forum, google, wikipedia, digg, cnn, etc connect people with the information they’re looking for.

Read More about connecting people with people/products/information
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/11/how-to-make-mon.html

Don’t re-invent the wheel!

The idea is simple: Don’t work really hard figuring something out when you could look at someone who is really successful at this thing and do what they do.

If you want to have a top ten rank on Google for the search term Poodle Manicures then search Google for Poodle Manicures and take a close look at the sites that come up in the top ten. These are your competition. What kinds of things did they do to get ranked so high. (i.e. How many pages do they have? How often do they update their content? How many incoming links do they have? How long do they have their domain registered for?)

Continue learning online and offline. I just finished the book “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion” by Robert B. Cialdini. This incredible book changed the way I see marketing. I read it because it was recommended by several people on the Warrior Forum. If you don’t what to read, ask for suggestions.

Take action. Reading more books/forums/etc won’t do any good if you never take action.

Focus on thing and do it well. (One of my biggest failings! I am easily distracted.)

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What do YOU wish you had known when you first start in Internet Marketing?

Video: How to quickly monetize your blog

Nick — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 14:10:07 +0000

This has got to be one of the best ways to monetize your blog or any website.

It’s super simple but be warned- it does take a little effort on your part.

Thanks to Gary Vaynerchuck for a great video!

Why affiliate marketing sucks (and how to fix it)

Nick — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 15:58:24 +0000

Photo by terren in Virginia

Let’s be honest here. For 99% of Internet marketers affiliate marketing sucks big time.

You spend a ton of time and effort and energy (and sometimes money) to send traffic to a sales page that isn’t converting any traffic into sales.

What a waste!

More traffic?

The solution is NOT sending more traffic to a sales page that doesn’t convert.

Traffic isn’t your problem; conversion IS your problem.

Unfortunately you have no idea what the conversion rate is for a sales page until you send a bunch of traffic to it.

Worse yet, once you determine that the conversion rate sucks, there’s nothing you can do about it because you’re just an affiliate.

How to fix this problem

The simple solution is to stop sending traffic to affiliate offers and instead send the traffic to your own email list sign-up page.

Once people are on your e-mail list you can test different affiliate offers to see how well they convert. If one of the affiliate offers converts poorly you still will have your e-mail list.

Get to know your list

Part of the problem with affiliate marketing is that you are trying to sell stuff to people without knowing what exactly they are searching for. You have no idea what problems and needs people have.

Through your email list you can interact with your subscribers and find out what they’re really looking for.

You can invite them to ask questions and expect answers. (If you go this route make sure you actually answer their questions!)

I have even bribed people with a free product if they simply ask me a question.

But how do you setup an email list?

I have several posts that show you how:

Why Doesn’t Amazon Want My Money?

Nick — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 14:05:15 +0000

I’ve been a customer of Amazon.com for several years now and have spent hundreds of dollars at their website on books, movies, and music.

Until recently I had a wish list on Amazon with over 100 items on it. (Last week I deleted my wish list for privacy reasons but that’s a story for another time.)

So it’s safe to say that Amazon has a very good idea of what things I like and what items I am likely to purchase in the future.

Amazon is losing money

Every week I get at least one email from Amazon with their current deals and specials. Unfortunately for Amazon, I have absolutely no interest in 99% of the items they email me about.

This sort of mass marketing of the most popular items to everyone is the kind of thing I would expect from retailers that know nothing about me.

But Amazon is different! They have a long list of products that I have purchased in the past as well as a lengthy wish list.

They know exactly the types of books and movies that I purchase on a regular basis. Why aren’t they emailing me with offers and deals on these types of products?

They know that I recently purchased a Kindle and they have an excellent idea of what books, newspapers, and accessories that people buy within the first couple months of owning a Kindle. Why aren’t they recommending these things to me?

Don’t they want my money?

Yesterday’s email

Here is a screenshot of yesterday:

One of the products they are advertising in the email is the $139 Kindle, which is the exact same Kindle but I purchased a few weeks ago!

I recognize that the purpose of the email is to suggest gifts for other people but I was still very surprised when I saw that they emailed me an advertisement for a product that I just purchased from them.

100 times more likely to buy

If they email me with products that I’m actually interested in I am 100 times more likely to buy the item right then and there.

Why aren’t they doing this?