OK.So you want some free traffic. The easiest form of free traffic is through Forums.
There are literally thousands of forums on every subject imaginable. Simply search the subject matter you are promoting adding "forums" to the end of your search word or phrase. Spend some quality time at this point researching the forums stats. You want to scroll down to the bottom of the forums home page to find out the volume of their membership.
You want to target forums that have a large membership and therefore receive a large volume of traffic. Your goal is to visit these forums on a regular basis and submit posts. With some of the large volume forums you may be required to submit a certain number of post's prior to you being able to attach your link to the product or service you are promoting. Being able to attach your link to each and every post is your goal because that is what is going to create your free traffic.
Once you have fulfilled this requirement, every post you make will have a link to the site you are promoting. I would start by joining 3 or 4 forums in the subject matter you are promoting. I would then develop a disciplined schedule to return to your list of forums and allocate 10-15 minutes per forum to add some posts to start driving that free traffic. When joining a forum I suggest you start in the "Introductions" section and simply introduce yourself, and then go back and thank all those who welcomed you to the forum.
By introducing yourself, relationships will develop with members that have a common interest. As you become a regular member, periodically visit the Introduction section and welcome other new members which will of course, have your link attached to your welcome and provide an opportunity for you to receive some more free traffic. One quick way to generate a lot of comments from starting a new thread at your forum, and get your link exposed fast, is to propose a controversial question on a particular subject. If you are promoting a product for "Dog Training", start a new thread entitled "Discipline or love to house train your dog?" The key is to stay involved with the posts and have some fun with them. Remember, each reply post you contribute, your link is there for everyone to see and increase the chances of being click on, and undoubtedly you will also do some learning from the other members.
I don't believe any person has put up an E-commerce site that doesn't expect to make a profit. We have a startup capital that no matter how large or small needs to be regained. With a consistent flow of traffic to your website, you at least have a somewhat fighting chance to achieve that probability. Monetizing your traffic will optimize your chances of making the best out of your business. When you generate substantial traffic, your world of profitable possibilities is going to open tenfold.
This is a whole separate topic that I will save for another article. Just take a look at some popular sites and scrutinize the amount of sales possibilities on that website. One of the most common, and of course profitable ways to increase income to your site, is to invite advertisers to place ads.
After spending almost 3 years involved in online marketing, I can't help but learn and grow every day. The lack of website traffic, I learned very quickly, is the ultimate demise of all online businesses. This is my attempt to pass on what I have learned and use every day. I invite you to explore more here.
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