No more “driving traffic” for me

You’ve heard it a million times. The secret to success online is driving traffic – without it you are sunk.

I say that’s nonsense.

I’m growing weary of many of the trends and terms associated with Internet Marketing including the the consistently misleading driving traffic myth.

Who wants to be driven anywhere?

The suckers (you and me) that have bought into the driving traffic hype have made a good number of supposed guru’s rich because, as wide eyed and willing guinea pigs just enough of us (not you or me of course) struck it lucky and kept the rest of us excited enough to keep digging for “traffic gold”.

Driving traffic has been sort of like the lottery in that respect. All the guru’s need is a few success stories to keep the masses emptying their wallets.

Sure, I use a few tools to help spread my message as efficiently as possible, but there are no magic buttons you can push to become a success online.

Here’s my theory:

Fewer websites matter now than they did ten years ago – and the list of sites that actually matter is getting shorter not longer. The skill of driving traffic is becoming irrelevant quickly.

That may seem like bad news, but it’s not if you are a using common sense in your online business efforts.

You don’t need a huge following or even steady stream of traffic to succeed online. It’s nice to have these things, but just like in the “real world” very few people achieve success using a trick or a secret tool.

I’m done being driven or driving anyone anywhere on the Internet and whether you realize it or yet or not, so are you – as is everyone else. The game is drying up.

Internet prospects typically know what they are looking for, and they go find it from sources they trust. They spend the vast majority of their “surfing” time on the same handful of sites. The wow factor of the Internet is fading. Virtually no one is randomly surfing from site to site looking for something random to purchase.

Banner ads, interruptions, and pushed/forced advertising of any kind is a dying institution online just as much as it is in the “real world”. As anecdotal evidence I have a serious question: Have you bought ANYTHING as a result of a Facebook ad? Advertisers are spending money every time you see an ad, but you aren’t clicking or buying are you? I didn’t think so (and that’s supposedly “cutting edge” – give me a break).

You may find this hard to believe, but I do VERY well in my businesses online while not relying on any of the traditional marketing and advertising tactics that you (and nearly all of your friends and neighbors) are already instinctually ignoring. My students and readers are taking the same approach.

Stop learning “traffic tips” and start building something real.

Some examples of what I teach and endorse currently:

1. Many success stories are as simple as deciding to hang out where the crowd is already hanging out (i.e. eBay, Amazon etc.) and giving customers what they already want and need. Getting an advantage here is easy. The crowd is ready to buy.

2. Find a little niche and delight your fans. You don’t need SEO, driving traffic skills or any other ninja skills in order to create great content and engage your fans. If you can get 10 strangers online excited about what you do, you are onto something huge – build on it by delighting them, engaging in conversation, and creating content to attract more followers. That’s not driving traffic or SEO – that’s being a leader.

3. Take your basic skills OFFLINE and help businesses apply the basics. (offlinebiz.com teaches you these skills)

Check out SilentSalesMachine.com for more ideas along these lines.

Let’s talk about it. Leave a comment using the link at the top of this article.