blogging Archives - Ron Kness Writing

How to Generate Traffic to Your Website When You’re Away from the Computer

Even if you’re away from the computer a lot in the summer, there’s no reason why you can’t keep generating plenty of traffic to your website. Put things into place now and there’s no reason to face a slow down while you’re gone.

Here are a few ways to achieve ongoing traffic to your business.

• Use autoresponders: If you’re going to be away from your business for a while, make sure you schedule emails to go out to your subscribers regularly. You can use email to drive traffic to your blog posts, articles and product offers.

• Preschedule blog posts: Just like with email, preschedule blog posts to publish while you’re away. If you have an RSS feed and email subscription for your blog, your subscribers will automatically be notified when you post something new.

• Schedule social media or hire an intern: Don’t let your social media presence die while you’re away. You can preschedule updates using a tool like Hootsuite, but try to check in and respond to any comments when you can. Or consider hiring an intern or have a trusted colleague keep things fresh in your absence. We’ll talk more about this in my next blog post.

• Enlist the help of guest bloggers: Guest bloggers are a lifesaver when you’re away. Not only can they provide your regular readers with great content in your absence, they can also let their audience know about their guest post…bringing fresh traffic to your site.

• Get affiliates activated: Keep things going by getting affiliates to take action. Consider running a sales contest or another promotion. Just make sure that you have someone handling any questions they may have and providing the support they need.

• Search engine optimization (SEO): While search engine optimization can take time, it is a tremendous source of ongoing free traffic. Put SEO techniques into place and you’ll bring new visitors to your website every single day.

• Pay-per-click advertising: A more sure thing than SEO (but more expensive), pay-per-click advertising can generate a nice steady stream of traffic as well. Just make sure to set a budget to your campaign, so you don’t go over your budget while you’re gone. It’s also a good idea to check in on your campaign every few days, just to make sure everything is on track.

• Purchase newsletter ads: Find some on target newsletter publications and purchase a couple of ads each week while you’re away. Most publishers will allow you to choose when your ad will run, as long as spaces are available. That will bring you a steady stream of traffic, even though you’re nowhere near your computer.

Clearly, keeping the traffic going takes some work and preparation, but when you take the time to do it in advance, you can keep that traffic and business flowing steadily, no matter where you are.

Lost and Found: Here’s Your Motivation to Keep Business Going This Summer

Just a short post for you today because I don’t want to keep you from getting your work done!

Summer should be about enjoying yourself, getting outside and hopefully getting away from it all. Of course, most of us don’t have the luxury of avoiding work all summer long. Sometimes, we’ve got to roll up our sleeves and get busy, but it’s not always easy if you work from home. I’m sure just about any home or Internet business owner can relate, so here are some tips to stay motivated this summer.

Work hours are your friend: We talked about this in the avoiding distractions post, but it applies here too. When you know when you’re supposed to work, you’re more likely to do it. If you leave your days wide open and think you’ll squeeze work in somewhere, it’s less likely to happen.

Focus on what you like doing: There’s nothing worse than dreading something on our to-do list. Not only do we procrastinate from getting that one thing done, but it can remove our motivation to do anything at all. Always focus on what you’re good at and enjoy. Hire others or take on a partner to do the things you despise, but they enjoy. I’ve never understood why some people love crunching numbers and doing the accounting, but I’m so glad that they do.

Set summer goals: While you may not be working as hard in the summer as you do other times of the year, do set some goals for yourself. Set daily, weekly and monthly goals. Make them challenging, yet attainable and outline the steps you’re going to take to achieve them.

Reward yourself: When you accomplish a goal, give yourself a reward. Whether it’s a camping trip, a weekend away or simply an iced tea on the patio, everyone likes to have their work appreciated. Appreciate yourself readily!

Take a break Give yourself a break sometimes: As entrepreneurs, we can be pretty hard on ourselves. We try to pack so much in, create ridiculously long to-do lists, but it’s not really necessary. Always re-evaluate your work plan and adjust it to make sure you get the most important things done.

I guess the real lesson here is to know where you want to go and how you’re going to get there. Always have a plan, but be prepared to adjust it where necessary.

Of course, if your motivation has gone down because business has slowed down, we have another problem. We’re going to talk about reviving a slow business in my next post.

Attract New Customers with a Business Blog

For a business owner, a new year means putting new strategies in place to accomplish your goals for that coming year. You’re probably asking yourself how to grow your business, operate more efficiently, pay off debt or maybe even expand to a new location.

What can you do if that list of goals includes growing your business by attracting new customers online? One of the best places to start is by creating a business blog.

There are plenty of reasons to start a business blog today, but here are the ones I see as being most important.

Blogging for Traffic (and Dollars!)

The more you blog and create relevant and informative content, the more website traffic you will receive. Writing about topics important to your prospective customers casts a wider net of opportunities for your site to be found online.

Let me explain how this happens.

While your website may be found on Google by typing in the name of your business, it doesn’t guarantee your site shows up for terms related to your business that could attract new customers.

If you’re a new company that sells luxury pet items for example, web users won’t be searching for your store name, but instead for the term “luxury dog beds” in Google. (In case you were wondering, the keyword “luxury dog beds” gets searched approximately 8,100 times per month.)

If that web user sees your blog post titled “The 5 Best Luxury Dog Beds Your Puppy Will Love” in the listings, clicks to your site, reads your informative article and then finds out you sell luxury dog beds, you are on your way to securing a new customer.

Your Blog Positions You as an Expert

Updating your blog frequently with industry-related posts demonstrates you know what you’re talking about. These posts then have the ability to be shared on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Not only does this social sharing bring you more web traffic, the shares themselves act as endorsements that you are an expert and that your content is valuable.

Why would you want expert status? First off, it makes it easier to do business with you. If you’re trying to secure new customers who are experiencing buyer objections, you can use blog posts that demonstrate your experience and credibility as reference points to help move the sales process along.

Also, achieving expert status makes you the go-to person in your industry. When people start turning to you for questions on a topic, ask you to blog about certain industry news or to submit a guest blog post to their blog, you are creating momentum that will drive more traffic to your site that turns into leads and customers.

Customer Success Stories for More Sales

A blog can also help you make the most of your current web traffic that isn’t converting into customers. It’s possible through what we call social proof.

What is social proof? Well, it might be helpful to ask this question in a different way.

When you’re thinking of doing business with a company, do you always believe what they say about themselves? Or do you look for reviews or testimonials that feature like-minded people sharing their experience with the company you’re thinking about?

We all do those searches. This is part of the reason for the success of places like Amazon that feature its customer reviews so prominently.

Having a blog on your site creates a chance for you to write about what you have done for customers and any successes they have had. If your current website visitors read these customer success stories on your blog that establish your credibility, they are more likely to do business with you.

While your blog should focus mainly on industry topics that answer questions or provide necessary information, having posts that showcase your customer success stories with your products or services is perfectly acceptable.

Are you planning on starting a business blog anytime soon? What are your concerns about getting started? Let us know by sending in a quote request or send us a message via our Contact Page!