Day 3

Subject: [firstname]: Here are some popular sources of free traffic.

Hey [firstname]!

I hope yesterday's e-mail didn't put you off of trying to get some free traffic. Like I said yesterday, it can take time (and sometimes a little money) to get traffic this way, but it's worthwhile.  I want to talk about free traffic methods today, and I'll cover some paid-for methods tomorrow.

When people think about “free” traffic, the most popular source that comes to mind is getting a high ranking on Google and other search engines.  This is achieved via search engine optimization (SEO).  This is where you make your website attractive to the search engines so they'll rank it highly.  To be honest, I've always regarded SEO as a bit of a “dark art”.  As Google and the other search engines change their algorithms regularly, you're better off hiring an SEO expert to do the job instead of doing it yourself.  Not exactly free, but cheap in the long run.

Another way to get free (or at least cheap) traffic is to simply ask for referrals.  Ask your existing customers to recommend you to a friend, and offer them an inducement – such as a product with a low cost but high perceived value, or a discount voucher against future purchases – to encourage them.  Again, this isn't 100% free, and you have to already be getting some traffic and sales, but when that traffic comes with a recommendation, it means the customer is more likely to make a purchase.

One method that is completely free (in financial terms, anyway) is guest blogging. Here you find a popular blog in your niche, contact the owner and offer to write an article for them (gratis) in return for a link back to your site.  This is a win-win situation for everybody.  The site owner gets a blog post they don't have to write, and you get credibility and traffic by being associated with an “authority” blog.  

Talk soon!

[Your Name]

PS. Don't forget your copy of my traffic generation handbook.  Here's the link [link to sales page].
