I get asked all the time “how do I get more traffic?” It’s the wrong question to ask and after reading Russell Brunson’s Traffic Secrets book I was reminded of an old research hack I used to use with a past business to find the traffic. I share my process in this episode.

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Big Ideas

Not “how do I get more traffic?” but “where are my people already hanging out?” [1:10]

Years ago, I owned a consulting company and the focus of the company was to help people with their affiliate programs. We used to do a lot of research for the clients that we were managing these programs to find potential affiliates. In doing that research, we would uncover thousands of people who were already in front of our audience. Many times we’re asking the wrong question. We’re asking the question, “How do I get traffic?” But what we should really be asking is, “Where are my people already hanging out?”

And recently, I was reading my good buddy Russell Brunson’s book, Traffic Secrets. In that, he was saying the same thing that I’m sharing with you. It’s not about how you get traffic, it’s where your people are already hanging out. This really boils down to you and I doing a little bit of research. I’m going to walk you through three steps to doing the research to be able to find out where your people are hanging out. Once you’ve identified where they’re hanging out, you can begin developing relationships with the people who own those websites, the blogs, the YouTube channels, etc.

List out all the potential platforms [3:34]

Step number one, make a list of all the potential platforms where your market could be hanging out. What potential blogs in your market are already in front of your audience? What about other potential websites, forums or Facebook groups? Or what about podcasts or YouTube channels? What if you already know of different influencers that have platforms? These are all examples of platforms where people in your market are already going and consuming content. So, make a list of all of those places.

Worst case scenario, if you can’t think of any blogs, websites, forums, Facebook groups, influencers, YouTube channels or podcasts, write down those different platforms I just mentioned and I’ll show you how to use that in just a minute.

Make a list of keywords related to your topic [5:42]

Second step, I want you to make another list. Make a list of keywords related to your topic. For example, the topic that I help and serve my audience with is recurring revenue – helping people generate more recurring revenue in their business through membership sites. So, I might make a list of keywords that include words like recurring revenue, subscription income, membership sites, member sites, membership software. List down a whole bunch of keywords, words that people would use to describe your market, your topic, the things that you’re helping them with, problems or challenges that they’re experiencing. Put yourself in the shoes of your audience. What are they looking for?

Combine list #1 and #2 and see what sites come up [7:18]

Third step, start combining some of these. You might go to Google and put keyword + blog, see what websites come up on the front page of the search results. Also notice the websites that are coming up on the right-hand side in the Google advertisements. Pay attention to these things because both the organic and paid search results are getting traffic. You can also do keyword + blog, and then the second keyword + blog and see if different sites come up. Then, you’re going to go back to your keyword list, take the first keyword, and put + podcast, or + forum, or + YouTube channel. Just see what pops up and start making this big list of people who are already in front of your market.

Memorable Quote

“It’s not about ‘how do I get traffic?’ It’s about where are my people already hanging out.” – Stu McLaren

Resources

Episode 200 – 200th Episode! Guests Share Best Marketing Strategy From 2020

Traffic Secrets: The Underground Playbook for Filling Your Websites and Funnels with Your Dream Customers

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