There are dozens of different ways to get free traffic to your site. One of them is to leave comments on other people’s blogs and link back to your own site.

This by itself is a decent strategy. The quicker you comment on a new blog post, the more likely it is you’ll get some traffic to your blog.

Why?

Because many successful bloggers email their list after they publish a new post. If you are the first one to comment on a new blog post… then you’ll get to “ride the wave” of subscribers who visit that post.

But while this strategy works, I’ve found an even better way to generate traffic from blog comments.

Blog Comments as a Source of Traffic

Lest you think that commenting on blogs is a waste of time, let me share with you a little story.

A couple years ago, as I was researching new ways to drive traffic to my blog, I stumbled upon a simple idea. The idea was to find “do-follow” blogs that passed PageRank through their comment links.

In theory, by leaving comments on blogs like this (and perhaps even using your primary keyword phrase as your “name”), you could actually increase your search engine rankings.

In my case, the theory proved true. Here’s what I did.

First, I found a do-follow blog that had a post related to one of my posts. I then left a comment linking to a post on my site. I used the title of the post in the “name” field. In my comment, I referenced my post and said, “Click my name to read the post.”

This not only helped me get (and stay) ranked for that search phrase for years, it also sent a lot of traffic to my blog.

Not just hundreds of visitors.

Thousands.

In fact, this one blog comment has sent more traffic to my blog in the last year than any single guest post or web site other than Google, StumbleUpon, and Twitter.

In other words, this blog ranks #4 in terms of how much traffic it sends to my site.

And it was all because of one measly comment on one measly post.

Blogs that Rank Well Send Lots of Traffic

If you were to use this same strategy to drive traffic to your site, you’d want to do the following:

1. Search Google for a keyword phrase you’ve already written about in a blog post or article.

2. Go through the first page of search results to see if any of the sites are blogs.

3. If one of the sites is a blog, and comments are open, then leave a comment contributing to the conversation.

4. Do not link to your site’s home page in the URL field. Rather, link directly to the post or article that’s related to the one you’re commenting on.

5. Rather than typing your name into the name field, use your primary keyword phrase, or even the title of your post or article.

6. Finally, mention your related blog post or article in your comment and instruct readers to click your name if they’d like to read more.

While it’s no guarantee that your comment will produce thousands of visitors (or that it will even be published), there is a good chance you will get a steady stream of visitors to your site for weeks, months, and possibly years.

-Ryan M. Healy

A few months ago, I quietly changed my blog comment settings to automatically close comments after 30 days. After this worked so well, I decided to reduce the “comment window” to only 14 days.

Here’s why I decided to do this.

Reason #1 – I’ve had quite a lot of work to do this year, and I don’t always have time to reply to comments. This is especially true for comments that are added to old posts. Once a post is more than a month old, the discussion has moved elsewhere and a new comment can be a hassle to deal with.

Reason #2 – In spite of sophisticated spam filters like Akismet, every blog is still susceptible to comment spam. What’s more, the older the post, the more spam it’s likely to attract. So by automatically closing comments in 14 days, I’ve literally eliminated my blog comment spam problem altogether.

Reason #3 – A 14-day comment window encourages people to comment now instead of later. Furthermore, those who decide to comment before the window closes are rewarded with a link back to their blog or web site. People who come along later do not get that privilege.

I know a number of bloggers who’ve decide to turn off comments altogether. While I’ve considered it, I actually like to get comments and respond to them.

So, for me, a 14-day comment policy is the perfect compromise. It allows me to keep comments open, but also: prevents old discussions from being reopened; eliminates blog comment spam; and encourages readers to comment before the 14 days is up.

-Ryan M. Healy

A few months ago, this question was posted to one of the private Yahoo groups I belong to:

> Hi,
>
> Could someone tell me what are the big parts that make
> up SEO? Can one say that X things make up ones rankings?
>
> For example with direct mail, it’s the list, offer and the creative.
>
> I have heard that incoming links is like 50% of SEO success and
> I am not sure if this is true.
>
> SEO has proved to be a mystery to me. It’s the only thing that
> has defeated us for years and years lol
>
> I would appreciate if someone could help me out.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Dave

Here’s the SEO Advice I Gave to Dave:

The short version.

SEO is determined by:

• Inbound links…
• With the right anchor text…
• From the right web sites…
• To the right pages.

Having the right domain name helps. You want your primary keyword phrase in the domain name, but is not required.

You want your internal linking structure to reinforce inbound links from other sites. (So use the right keyword phrase when linking to a page within your site.)

Generally speaking, older domains rank better than newer domains.

Last but not least, have solid content on your site. When you’re trying to rank a page for a particular keyword phrase, it helps if that phrase is in the page title and an h1 tag. It also helps if the keyword appears a few times on the page.

But all these things bow to inbound links.

I’m no SEO expert… it’s not what I do for a living… but I’ve managed to get 1st page Google rankings for a number of competitive keyword phrases. So I know this formula works.

This Really Is the Short Version of SEO

I recently wrote an in-depth report on SEO and it rang in at 34 pages. I named this report “Free Traffic: The Layman’s Guide to SEO.”

I may be selling this report in the near future. But first, I’m going to give it away FREE if you sign up for SEO Link Vine through my affiliate link.

This is a brand new service. I just signed up for SEO Link Vine myself, and it will probably end up being a resource that I recommend in my SEO report.

So I figured: instead of selling this report to you for a price, why not give it away free when you sign up for one of the tools I believe is going to help you get better rankings?

Here’s what to do right now: Purchase SEO Link Vine through this link. Then email me your receipt at rhealy@gmail.com. I will immediately forward you a copy of my brand new SEO report.

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. If you want better rankings, I truly believe this new service combined with my report will help you immensely. Purchase through this link and you’ll get my SEO report for free: http://www.LinkVine.net

Social media can be a huge time waster when it’s used incorrectly.

Unfortunately, most people use social media the wrong way. They spend hours every day tweeting, Facebooking, and who knows what else — only to find that they’re a day older and not a penny richer.

Here’s a useful principle for business:

If what you’re doing for business is not producing additional revenue, then you need to either a) change your approach until it does produce revenue or b) stop the unproductive activity altogether.

This is especially true of social media.

Here’s another useful principle:

Find people who have already figured out how to generate additional revenue from social media — and then simply do what they’re doing.

Obviously, modeling another successful person does not a guarantee that you’ll have the same degree of success (or any success at all), but you can at least be sure that your approach will have a reasonable chance of succeeding.

With this in mind, I’d like to tell you about Charlie Cook’s free teleseminar series called “The Insiders’ Secrets to Profiting With Social Media Marketing.”

During this series, 8 experts (including me) are presenting some of their best knowledge about how to use social media to grow your business. It’s free to participate — and you can listen to just one teleseminar or all of them. It’s up to you.

All you have to do is register with your name and email.

• Jack Humphrey will be sharing blogging strategies.
• Jan Vermeiren will teach you how to build (and profit from) your LinkedIn network.
• Kyle Lacy will be revealing how to use Twitter to build relationships and get more referrals.
• Plus, there are five additional presentations — including one in which I share how I use my blog to develop my business.

I haven’t heard any of the other presentations, so I can’t vouch for what kind of value you’ll get. But I can tell you the content in my presentation will be worth your time. (I delivered the same material to a local business group, and they responded very positively to it.)

To get registered, please click here.

Note: This is my affiliate link. If you decide to buy the recordings later, I’ll get a commission. Otherwise, all 8 presentations are free.

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. When you go to register, you’ll see a sales letter. For the record, I didn’t write it. I would not have used the word “killer” to describe my blog and sales letters.

Anyway, I suggest you scroll down to the speaker profiles and see if there’s anything you’d like to learn more about. If something catches your eye, go ahead and register.

If you’ve been a reader for any length of time, you know that my blog here is the “main course,” so to speak.

In other words, this is where I share a lot of my controversial ideas, as well as tips, strategies, and techniques for writing sales copy, getting traffic, and growing business.

Now, I even have a regularly updated web site that is focused exclusively on the art of written persuasion: Copywriting Code

But there’s another outlet for those who want to know what I’m thinking and reading outside of copywriting, marketing, and business growth.

“A Side of @HealyMonster”

Today, as I was reading Terry Dean’s blog, I came across the post “Building Momentum in Your Life.”

In this post, Terry talks about the importance of routine and being productive even when you’re not in the mood to be productive.

But what made me chuckle was this paragraph toward the end of the article:

Instead of wanting to be the “overnight social media sensation,” just get involved. Setup your Twitter account. Subscribe to some great people like that wonderful @TerryDean or perhaps a little @BenSettle with a side of @healymonster.

My Tweets Are Not for Everybody

Obviously, if you’re on Twitter, I’d love to have you as a follower.

But based on Terry’s wording, I can only assume that this “HealyMonster” guy is an acquired taste, kind of like fine wine. ;-)

Seriously, though, my tweets are often like my blog posts; they’re polarizing because I’m not afraid to stir the pot (so to speak).

So if you can handle some contrarian, sometimes off-the-wall thoughts and ideas, join me on Twitter.

And don’t forget to follow Terry Dean and Ben Settle as well. They always share good stuff, and they’re not hyperactive so they’ll never monopolize your tweet stream.

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. The name “Healy Monster” was an old wrestling nickname I resurrected when I discovered my name was already taken on Twitter. Just in case you were wondering…

Social proof is one of the six pillars of persuasion. Robert Cialdini dedicates all of Chapter 4 — more than 40 pages — to social proof in his book Influence.

Of course, in a marketing setting, you want to use social proof to your advantage. But every once in a while, this technique can backfire.

A Live “Tweet-Stream”?

Apparently, at Yanik Silver’s Underground Seminar #6, they had planned to have a dedicated screen showing a live tweet stream of all the tweets about the seminar.

All the tweets tagged with #UG6 would be displayed on the screen during the seminar.

For some reason, they decided at the last minute not to go ahead with this plan. The live tweet stream was still on the Underground Seminar web site, but it was not displayed in front of the audience.

A Saboteur in Their Midst?

A jaded insider who caught wind of the live tweet stream decided to use it to broadcast his less-than-positive opinions about some of the speakers at the Underground Seminar.

He set up an anonymous Twitter profile (“Illuminated Dude”) for the sole purpose of covering — or, more accurately, exposing — the speakers at the event. You can see his profile here:

http://twitter.com/IlluminatedDude

Not All Social Proof Is Good

In an ad or sales letter, you get to control the social proof. This is a situation where social proof can help further the sale.

But be careful about giving up control of social proof. It can easily turn against you, as the example above proves.

Personally, I’ve found Twitter to be a great place to build positive social proof. I’ve gotten a few unsolicited endorsements, which has been pretty cool.

And yet I don’t have a live, unmoderated tweet stream on my web site either. It would be way too easy for somebody with an axe to grind to take advantage of that.

Just something to ponder as we move deeper into the uncharted waters of social media.

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. I’m adding more content to Copywriting Code on a regular basis. The monthly rate is a bargain right now, but it won’t always be that way. Take a gander at the page below and sign up today…

https://www.copywritingcode.com/amember/signup.php

Bad news today. Social media is not the panacea the media has made it out to be. In fact, in many cases, it can do more harm than good.

So while I do like social media and get new blog readers from it, please allow me to share the three most common hazards of social media.

Hazard #1: Kiss Your Productivity Goodbye!

Between Facebook, Twitter, and StumbleUpon, it’s a wonder anybody gets any work done online these days. Employers know it, too. That’s why many of these sites are now blocked on work computers.

With social media, one thing leads to another.

You innocently drop in to update your status — then get sidetracked and follow dozens of interesting tidbits of information. Next thing you know, an hour of your time has vanished.

Poof! Just like that.

Hazard #2: Sacrificing True Friends for Imaginary Friends

Social media encourages dozens of casual encounters with people you don’t know every single day. It might feel like friendship, but somehow it’s not.

Unfortunately, social media has a tendency to keep people from investing in the true friendships they already have.

Instead of sitting down to coffee, social media junkies exchange one-liners with strangers — and then secretly wonder why they feel lonely.

Hazard #3: Becoming Intoxicated by Your Own Pseudo-Fame

Why is social media such a juggernaut in the 21st Century? Because with social media, all of a sudden everybody is a celebrity.

I may not know you from Adam, but if you have 20,000 followers, it’s going to look like you’re somebody (even if you aren’t).

That’s why I call it pseudo-fame. It’s a little like being famous, but far short of the real thing. (By the way, many famous people wish they weren’t famous. That should tell you something.)

A Better Way…

If you’re going to be investing time online, I suggest you do something that provides you with a monetary benefit — and not just a transient ego boost.

One of the most valuable skills you can learn is the skill of copywriting. That’s just a fancy way of explaining how to get people to buy through the written word.

And, if you think about it, words are what drive the economy of the Internet. Every sales letter, every sales video, every sales email is powered by persuasive words.

If you’d like to strengthen your copywriting skills, I highly recommend the work of Claude Hopkins, especially Scientific Advertising. You can get a copy on Amazon for $15 or so.

And, of course, you can also get my perspective on copywriting at Copywriting Code. Before you publish another tweet or status update, hurry on over and check it out now…

http://www.CopywritingCode.com

-Ryan M. Healy

When I first communicated with Lynn Terry in January, it was to apologize.

Fortunately, she was gracious. :-)

Lynn runs a great blog over at ClickNewz.com — and we decided to exchange interviews. Keep reading to get Lynn’s take on picking a niche, affiliate marketing, traffic generation, and more.

You’ve been online for 13 years, which I think must be at least a century in Internet years. Why were you drawn to the Internet? How did you first try to make money… and did that project fail or succeed?

LOL – True! I was drawn to the internet back in the 90’s because it was just hitting the scene. I was in my start-up year with an offline brick ‘n mortar business and initially got online to find parts and suppliers.

I immediately took an interest in creating something online. I made my first personal web page on angelfire, then geocities (which I won an award for). A friend of mine introduced me to an email discussion list where women all over the world were talking about online business ideas, and the rest is history as they say! ;)

My first official venture was a web development company, ultimately employing an international web team. I worked with local businesses and nationwide companies to establish a presence on the internet, and to create online marketing plans.

It was a very successful business, and a model that is once again brimming with opportunity and profit potential…

Obviously, 13 years of experience has made you a lot wiser. Give us the short version of how you now pick a niche to start a new online business. Do you pick something you love, something that is commercially viable, or a combination of the two?

A combination of the two is ideal, passion and profit combined. Obviously you can’t monetize a passion that doesn’t have a buying market.

That said, given a choice between two profitable niches, I would go with the one based on my personal interests – even if the other had slightly higher profit potential. Regardless of the numbers, you’ll always do better in a market where you are personally invested.

There are 3 ways to choose a niche like this. It can be based on your professional experience or expertise, a hobby or skill, or it can be something you are interested in learning more about yourself. Perhaps you’re just taking up snowboarding, or starting to collect something, etc.

A new personal interest is always a great niche, as you’re in the research phase yourself. You can really connect with your target market, share resources, conduct case studies, share video and photos, etc.

Do you recommend selling digital products only or physical products too? Why?

I’m a big fan of promoting physical products as an affiliate. While digital products offer a higher commission, physical products see a higher conversion rate. Buyers are less skeptical, often pre-sold, and online product sales are just continuing to rise dramatically every year.

A combination of product types and offers is ideal, depending on your market. If you’re promoting physical products, you can often do that with low-cost (or even free) info products that help your market with the buying decision…

Once you’ve proven a new business idea, do you rely on organic search traffic, paid traffic, or both? How does Adwords figure into the equation?

I am currently using organic search (free traffic from high search engine rankings) as my primary source of visitors. SEO is easy, and it’s free.

I started out using Google Adwords to get targeted traffic, but quickly got annoyed with all of the updates and “slaps” – entirely too high maintenance for me. Especially compared to SEO. PPC requires too much constant attention for my taste.

The model I use is taught by Dan Thies free in his guide at http://www.SEOfaststart.com

I understand you have an Internet marketing blog and a forum. Who are they for, and where can my readers go to check them out?

I have been blogging for about 6 years now, running a discussion forum for online business owners for right at 8 years. Both offer a variety of content & resources for anyone that wants to learn more about marketing their business online, or starting an online business.

You’ll find the forum at http://www.selfstartersweeklytips.com/members/ and my blog is http://www.ClickNewz.com. There is active cross-over between the two, and it’s a great community. If you stop by, be sure to leave a comment on the blog or post an intro at the forum – I’d love to meet you!

If you enjoyed this interview, make sure you check out my interview over on ClickNewz: 3 Simple Ways to Improve Your Online Business

Here we sit at the threshold of 2010. And in the spirit of prognostication, I’d like to take a moment to make a few modest predictions for the new year.

Business Prediction #1:
It Will Become Harder to Fill Seminars

Fact: It’s hard to fill seminars and it’s getting harder.

I can say this because I’ve experienced it firsthand with a few different clients. Not only that, I personally witnessed one of the largest seminar companies in the U.S. go belly up in late 2008.

I believe there are a few factors at work. One is simply the cost of seminar registrations combined with the cost of travel. Fewer people are willing to shell out $500 to $1,000 in travel expenses on top of a $500, $1,000, or $2,000 seminar ticket.

Another factor is simply the hassle of travel. It’s already bad. But since the security breach that happened Christmas day on Flight 253, the TSA has enforced onerous rules that make air travel even worse than before.

(I, for one, do not plan to get on a plane if they prohibit me from getting out of my seat or having anything on my lap for the final hour of the flight.)

As a result of the cost and hassle of air travel, I predict that:

1. There will be more demand for quality online training, teleseminars, and webinars.
2. There will be more demand for intimate local seminars and workshops.

If you have any interest in public speaking or live training events, I believe it will become easier for you to attract attendees in your immediate geographic area — because people still enjoy live events. They just don’t want to fly to get there.

Business Prediction #2:
A Resurgence of Direct Mail

Call me crazy, but I like paper. In fact, a lot of people still prefer to read things on paper than on the computer screen. (Here, here!)

And I believe that as the effectiveness of email declines… and as the Internet becomes more heavily saturated with newly unemployed people trying to get their foot in the proverbial door of Internet marketing… the savvy business-minded marketers will start using (or return to) direct mail.

This does not mean I believe marketers will abandon online marketing. Not at all.

I just believe that direct mail is ripe for “being discovered again,” and that the marketers who are paying attention will begin to incorporate direct mail into their overall marketing strategies.

Business Prediction #3:
More Affordable Online Advertising

Just this week I’ve seen unprecedented offers for online advertising space. From one company, I just bought up newly vacated space for 26 cents on the dollar.

And another well-known PR firm is offering their flagship products for 33 cents on the dollar.

This may seem like a paradox. After all, if more people are coming online, why aren’t the rates of online advertising going up?

I believe it’s because the majority of online marketers and fledgling entrepreneurs want to get traffic for free.

They want to rank well in the search engines. They want to get “retweeted.” They want to get “stumbled.”

When the free methods prove unreliable, and they’re finally convinced that they should pay for advertising, what do they do? They get an Adwords account and start a pay-per-click campaign.

So the cost per click for major keywords on Adwords tends to go up… while the rates for advertising space on other web sites tends to stay flat or go down.

(The cost of advertising space declines even faster when entrepreneurs who don’t track anything get scared and pull the plug on their advertising campaigns.)

On the bright side, I expect there will be some great deals on online advertising space in 2010. Keep your eyes peeled.

Business Prediction #4:
The End of the Internet Marketing Guru as We Know Him

Have you noticed? More than a couple of the highest profile Internet marketers have retired and gone underground (so to speak).

I have to believe it’s a combination of the new FTC rules, shady marketing practices, and the investigative “journalism” of a well-seasoned robot.

• No longer are you going to see IM gurus shouting from the rooftops how much they made in a year (or a minute).

• No longer will you see them using black hat (unethical) techniques to “acquire” a gazillion followers on Twitter.

• No longer will they “churn and burn” every person who comes in the door.

You get the idea.

I think this seismic shift is a good one because it will allow people to get back to fundamentals and focus on building real businesses that deliver real value at a fair price.

More Predictions and Business Advice for 2010

If you’d like to read more predictions and business advice for 2010, I recommend these articles to you (each opens in a new tab or window):

• The Future of the Internet Is Cloudy – by Michel Fortin
• 5 Ways to Increase Profits in 2010 – by Terry Dean
• How to Prosper in 2010 – by Gogo Erekosima

I wish you all the best in the new year.

-Ryan M. Healy

P.S. If you have any predictions of your own, or if you agree/disagree with anything I’ve said, I want to hear it. Please leave a comment below. Thanks!

I got more traffic to this web site last month (October 2009) than any other month since I started writing this blog.

Part of the reason for this is I have some truly great people in my social network. And they have graciously shared and linked to some of the posts I’ve written in the last month. (If that’s you, THANK YOU!)

And then I realized… I don’t believe I’ve ever formally invited you to connect with me on the social networks I’m active on. So without further adieu (all links open in a new tab or window)…

• Ryan Healy on Twitter
• Ryan Healy on Digg
• Ryan Healy on Delicious
• Ryan Healy on StumbleUpon
• Ryan Healy on Disqus
• Ryan Healy on YouTube
• Ryan Healy on LinkedIn
• Ryan Healy on MyBlogLog
• Ryan Healy’s Facebook Fan Page

If you are active on any of these social networks, please connect with me.

What’s in it for you?

No promises (obviously), but I do try to reciprocate when I know somebody has helped me out. So I’ll Stumble or Digg an article of yours… or leave a comment on your blog… or retweet something you share.

In other words, I try to pay attention and respond to people who engage me — and help them out when I can. It’s just good netiquette.

Furthermore, I’ve found that when you’re online, there is strength in numbers. The larger your network, the more influence you have… and the easier it is to attract new readers, subscribers, etc.

With that in mind, I look forward to connecting with you on the Interwebs! ;-)

-Ryan M. Healy