A while back I was writing about traffic not being enough for conversions. Anyone who鈥檚 played their hand in the digital world knows that generating leads and conversions is the name of the game.
And the never-ending challenge is finding quality traffic. So, our knee-jerk reaction is to do what we鈥檙e told to do: drop some moolah on the usual suspects who own the traffic.
But what happens when your account is suspended?
~a Hive gif, I forgot who did it
Some go to Facebook and run paid ads . . .
Spend money on clicks with Google . . .
Sign up for affiliate programs . . . with big promises.
If you're into affiliate marketing I recommend that you use this website to get your info, just like I go there to check stuff for several years.馃敾
List their products on Amazon . . . If you're one of these people, congrats! But also feel free to read this:
BUT WHAT'S REALLY HAPPENING?
All this time, while you are struggling to sell, somebody鈥檚 getting their cut of your business.
On top of that, most people invest heavily in optimizing their websites to appease the search engine gods so they can collect free traffic.
Newsflash: That traffic ain鈥檛 free, because you have to pay someone to do that work. And good SEOs aren鈥檛 cheap.
Real quick note here: I know this sounds all doom and gloom, but the fact is everything I鈥檝e mentioned thus far is part of a balanced, sound marketing strategy, provided you know what you鈥檙e doing.
The word WARNING here is simple. All of the traffic sources I mentioned are forms of digital sharecropping.
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You鈥檙e helping Google, Facebook, Amazon, affiliates, and so on build their businesses with your dollars.
And the real threat is when they change the rules. Because they can change algorithms, suspend accounts, drop your rankings, or render your marketing obsolete overnight.
Scary, right?
Because the last thing you want to do is have all of your eggs in one basket. Instead of building your business around Facebook, for example, take control of your most important assets and make them bulletproof.
What do I mean by that?
Own the relationships with your customers.
Launch your business in the BLOCKCHAIN!
Invest in a user-friendly, informative website, blockchain front-end that鈥檚 sticky. Blog and share helpful content. Build your email list or your own community!
Do the things that an algorithm change or increase in advertising competition can鈥檛 touch鈥攐r at least mitigate the risk of losing a huge chunk of traffic overnight.
I鈥檝e seen it happen. And it鈥檚 part of the symbiotic risk-reward world we live in.
But at the end of the day, shouldn鈥檛 you own the relationship with your customers on your terms anyway?
I鈥檝e got a ton to tell you about that later, in other articles . . .
gif by @doze