No one will have any reason to visit your site until you direct them there. People who arrive at your "landing page" and look at your site are called "traffic". People who show enough interest in you or your product to "opt in" to your list (leave their name and email address) are called "leads" or "prospects". Many gurus consider that your list is your most valuable asset

 

How do you get traffic? Here are some proven ways:

 

1 Online Listings, many of which are free. People really do read these, but be careful - you will inevitably be contacted by sharks who try to sell unnecessary or ineffective services to you.

 

2 Adwords. In the notoriously risky world of "Pay per Click", you write a short ad which contains a compelling message full of the "keywords" that your customers will be using in their Google searches. The ads appear at the top of search results (with a pale coloured background) and to the right of the page. Each time someone clicks on your ad - thus getting sent to your "landing page" - you pay google. Get it right and you can make a fortune. Not quite right and you will lose one.

 

3 Newspaper advertisements: don't bother with local papers if your product comes with a hefty price tag. Ads in national papers can be expensive, so again you have to know what you're doing, but they work well. Agencies such as New Horizons can get you a discount and provide sound advice

 

4 Build a great website full of "Keywords", with lots of links to and from it, and to a blog with constantly changing content. The art of setting your site up so that Google will put you at the top of the list is called "Search Engine Optimization" or "SEO". There is a whole industry surrounding this and there are plenty of opportunities to spend money trying to achieve it. Take care!

 

5 Article Writing: this is free and it can be extremely effective if you've got more time than money. Write short articles about anything interesting in your niche, include a link to your website and submit the articles to sites such as Ezine Articles. You can check which articles are read most, which get the most "clicks" and which are taken up by people who need material for newsletters. Then home in on the more profitable areas and duplicate your success.

 

6 Create short videos and post them on "youtube". Begin your description with your URL (so that people can click on it), show it on screen and mention it in the video as well. Get involved in user groups and discussion forums. The service is free and you can also use "youtube" videos on your own website.

7 Join social networking groups such as facebook, myspace, twitter and betternetworker. Post lots of helpful and interesting information which offers solutions to problems. Use your popularity to stir up interest in you and your product and encourage other users to visit your page and click on your link. Read more detailed Twitter advice in the "Free Stuff" pages

8 Read discussion forums about whatever "niche" you're into. Post informed observations and answer other people's queries in genuinely useful ways that establish you as an expert. Invite readers to get even more help by clicking on your link.

9 Newsletter lists subscriptions: collect the email addresses of people who are interested in your niche and send them regular newsletters. Offer lots of useful, free information (which will earn the trust of your readers), invite feedback (which establishes two-way communication and makes it seem more personal) and sometimes offer things for sale (but don't overdo it or they won't trust you anymore).

10 Start a blog (free from blogger) but make sure the content is well written, entertaining and relevant. Add new, valuable content as often as you can - this can include audio and video, photographs and all kinds of "gadgets". Make sure that important keywords are included in the title of the blog, in the title of each post and in the text itself. Include lots of links (all this helps with the SEO). Promote your blog with Ezine articles, social bookmarking, submitting it to directories, video marketing, RSS feeds, your e-mail signature and comments in other people's blogs.