I started blogging in November 2003. I wrote 3 posts through the end of the year. I wrote 10 posts in 2004 with nothing after July of that year and didn’t post anything else for over a year, until November, 2005. Since then I’ve STARTED blogging, logging over 40 posts in that time. Other than registering with Technorati and getting listed in the Blogspot directory – my original blog was (still is) built using Blogger and fed to my web site – I haven’t done a whole lot of promotion for my blog. And, while I’ve seen an uptick in traffic because of my blog, I’m not seeing huge numbers coming through it; and that’s okay by me.
You might ask me, “Why?, you’re the ‘internet marketer’, right? How come you aren’t building any traffic?” The reason is simple, I don’t think I have enough to offer yet. I’m getting there. Some of what I’ve written, even I think, is pretty good. But there’s not enough and there’s not enough focus as of yet. If I’m to attract AND keep an audience, I need to have a message that appeals to and applies to them. I have to provide value consistently and I don’t think I’m there yet.
The question is not so much, “how do I build traffic?”, as it is, “what value do I provide the traffic I build?“. Believe me, if I, or you provide value via your web site, published works, products or however else you deliver what you do to your customers, you will build traffic. It’s called word-of-mouth or, on the web, viral. Borrowing from Field of Dreams; that movie’s catch-phrase was, “If you build it, they will come.” Turn it around. If they come, and you haven’t built it, not only will they leave but they’ll likely not return and tell everyone else not to bother going either.
Seth Godin, interestingly enough, posted this comment today on his blog:
…People never say, “how can I earn more traffic?” or “How can I rethink the core of what I’m offering so that it organically attracts people who want to see it?”…
I agree with Mr. Godin because that’s where I’m at … trying to figure out how to earn traffic. Because whatever you earn, you get to keep.
