Another 5 Ways to Get Traffic to Come to Your Website or Blog

In my last post I gave you 5 dirt-cheap ways to get traffic to come to your site.  If you’re interested, the link to that article is here: Cheap Marketing Methods 

Now, I have another 5 ways you can promote your website that are very cheap.  However, I’d once again like to point out that these methods do require labor or, at the very least outsourcing. 

5 More Ways To Promote Your Website for Free

Reciprocal Links and Banners - It never hurts to send your readers and visitors to high quality websites.  The emphasis needs to be stressed on quality because you want to become a known and respected source of information.  If people come to your site expecting excellence and you refer them to a shabby website that has poorly written information, their stink will probably rub off on you.

Another thing that’s important to consider is that you don’t want to trade links very much.

The other day, I got a request from someone that wanted to trade links with me.  His site was an insurance review site which was totally outside my niche.  Also, I noticed that his site was an Adsense site wherein his site was merely written to generate clicks for Adsense revenue. 

Upon further inspection, I noticed that he had loads of what appeared to be outsourced articles. 

So, I declined his offer to exchange links. 

If you want to read a very well written article on link exchanging, read this article by Michael Bluejay:  Why Your Link Exchange Request Failed 

Donating Your Services to Charity – If you know of a business or charity that can use your products or services, you can donate your help to them.  Not only will you help others in need but they may also point your business out to others. 

My personal take is to help others in need without expecting anything in return.  That’s just the way I am.  I once got an email from a band director that had a trombone playing student that had cancer.  I was operating a music apparel business online and I wound up making a beautiful embroidered jacket for the kid.  I didn't make a dime or any notoriety for doing it, but it sure did feel good to make that student happy.

Put Your Web Address Everywhere – You can place your website’s URL on your car, shirts, business cards, letterhead, as well as any promotional items that you give out for your business.  Also, make sure that you use it in your email signature, eBooks that you’ve written and any communications you use. If you have a bricks and mortar business, make sure that you put your URL on the door of your business, on your menus, receipts, and any other item you use that has your branding on it.

Use Free Classified Ads – There are literally hundreds of free classified ad sites on the Internet.  Many of them service specific countries, so you’ll have to take a close look at them to see what country or area they service.  The downside of using free online ads is there are time limits on how long your ad will run.  You’ll have to go back and check to see if your ad is still running. 

Not only that, but there are a lot of people “phishing” on them.  Phishing is an online searching activity where nefarious people look around on sites where you would place your contact information, and then call you and try to sell you something.  They will also collect your email address and spam you like crazy. 

Here is a brief list of the best free classified sites to use:

Craigslist 

eBay Classifieds 

USFREEADS 

Back Page

Recycler 

Offer a Free Course on Your Website – This requires some effort and time, but if your visitors can get some excellent training, whether it’s audio, video or even a series of lessons, then you can post them for free on your website. 

Years ago, I created an extensive Photoshop course that you can still access today as well as a series on how to make your own blog using Blogger.   It was well received by people that used it.  So put your thinking cap on and think about a video course that you can come up with that is related to your business.  Not only will people come to your site looking for free information, but you can also embed your URL into your videos on YouTube to get even more traffic to your site.

Mark Ellis’s Photoshop Training Videos:

To Your Success!

Mark “Elmo” Ellis

"When it Comes to High-Response Copy - I've Got Your Back!"

www.MarkEllisCopy.com

(859) 797-9560

elmo033057@gmail.com

How to Make Sure Your Sales Page Coverts Before You Even Write a Word

I love going onto online entrepreneurial forums and reading posts about copywriting.  One of the things that encourages me to keep writing copy is when

people post things like:

“Easy Steps to Writing Converting Sales Copy”

Or

“The Simple System to Writing Ad Copy— So Easy a Moron Could Do It”

The reason why I love reading posts like this is because it makes my job far more secure than it already is.  The fact that the majority of people will take the easy way out and try to side-step the process of learning, writing, rewriting, studying, getting a good mentor, buying courses - using the tar out of them, while spending a copious amount of time writing some more, kinda makes me feel special .

Because the fact of the matter is, that writing advertising copy is like any other skill, it takes a lot of time, effort, patience , perseverance and good teachers to be world class, or at least good enough to lead a prospect through a sales process and convert him or her into a sale, plain and simple.

But, for those that are skeptical, let me point out a few for-instances that might convince you that I’m telling you the truth.  I know what you’re thinking, “He’s just saying this so I won’t write my own ad copy and hire him instead.”

If only it were that easy!

Yeah, I Fell For It!

While it is true I am a freelance copywriter, I would like to point out that I too, originally bought into the idea that you could take a single course and master the art.  I took a course from a reputable ad copy and marketing guru, fully expecting to “master” the skills and techniques by taking the one course. 

My first attempt at ad copy was anything less than spectacular, and looking back I can see that there were several reasons for this.  First of all, the product that I was selling online was in a niche that had a large audience and I failed to find a “niche within a niche” that would be far easier to target. 

But that wasn't the only mistake that I made.  The biggest mistake I made was not defining and understanding the difference between the benefits of my product and its features.    Without a clear road map showing prospects how my product would benefit them, I was dead in the water.  So, I clearly didn't have an understanding of my own product or how to benefit my prospective customers.

You need to know your product and service inside and out.  You need to read every bit of literature on the business, you need to use the product, and interview people that have used it as well as talk to people that work in the company (unless it is your own business you are writing about.)

Another fundamental and huge mistake I made, was I did not have a clear picture of what my ideal customer was like.  I forgot the marketing commandment of “Thou Shall Not Market To Everyone”.  So I had absolutely no idea what kept my prospects up at night or what they were afraid of.

To read an article on this, read, “Pain the Magic SalesButton – How to Use Discomfort on Your Prospects” . 

Take a look at how Dan Kennedy describes how criminals find their Target Market:

The bottom line of all of this is that before you even write a word of ad copy you need to do background intel on your prospects or customers.  

Without that, you can’t even get started!

Once you have all of that background you can actually start to craft your sales letter, and you’ll have a much better chance of writing copy prospects can relate to.

ELMO

www.MarkEllisCopy.com

Please send me a free copy of The Secret 7 -How to use advanced tactics in your adcopy to dominate your competition! 

There’s a Chicken Foot Inside My Mail!!!!

Mark Ellis
Next to the Valley View Ferry

Richmond, Kentucky

   

How would you like to craft a direct mail piece that you knew for sure would get opened without a shadow of a doubt?   Not only would your prospect open the envelope, but they would read the cleverly crafted sales letter that you provided for them without question.  Would that interest you?  Would it, Bunky?   

   Well, this is where you can get creative with your direct mail pieces and actually get prospective clients to look at your stuff. (I am of course assuming that you have a specific target market, and that you know that your clients are hungry for what you have to offer them.  You don’t want to try selling shot guns to blind people or Dick Cheney.  Ha!)

   Anyway, in my last incredible blog post entitled “If You Don't Read This I'm Gonna Croak!!!” I talked about moving heaven and earth to get people to open your envelopes and some of the basic things you can do to move things along and get people to absolutely open your mail.  Today, I want to make you aware of a few more things that you can do to get people to really open your envelopes and read your incredibly researched, tested and retested message that you know will make them want to grab their credit cards, cell phones, or check book and buy whatever it is you are offering.  At least, that is the theory.  

   If you are old enough like me, you will remember back in the olden days, the wonderful snack, Cracker Jack had a dimension to their snacks that made kids go gaga.  As a matter of fact, many cereal companies picked up on the idea and before legal and economic reasons started to interfere, putting prizes into these packages was a big hit.  Anytime someone says “Free” you can bet there will be an immediate attraction to the item or event.  I can’t tell you the number of times my wife wanted to drive clear across town because she saw an ad in a newspaper that Joe’s Warehouse promised the first 100 people that came into their doors a free $5 gift card. (We probably forked over $4.99 in gas just to get there.)

OK, so let’s say that you have sent out your direct mail pieces and your prospect gets a regular, legal sized envelope and you have it addressed and prepared the direct mail piece just as we told you to in our last direct mail marketing blog post.  But, this time when your prospect gets the sales letter in the mail, the envelope feels like there is something inside of it!!!

   If you were your prospect, would you want to know what was inside of there???   So, placing an item like a magnetic calendar, a pen with your business name, address and phone number, or any three dimensional object, would get someone to open your mail.

Now, you may be thinking, yeah, but that is gonna hike up the cost of my direct mail pieces!  Yep, it sure will, but considering the usual cost of a direct mail campaign, the time or money it takes to craft the sales letter, the price of your list or acquiring it and all of the other expenses, YOU WANT TO MAKE DOUBLE DARNED SURE IT GETS AT LEAST LOOKED AT, RATHER THAN THROWN AWAY!!!!!

   So, consider the slim increase versus what you could easily lose, which is the attention of your prospect.