It’s because you’re not doing the right things.

Here are 17 ways to drive viral traffic at no cost, in no specific order whatsoever.

You probably know a few of them, but do you really use them (frequently) all?

1. Forum Postings

You know the drill. Almost if not all the niche forums out there allow you introduce yourself, ask questions and answer member postings. The SIG file at the end of your postings or your PROFILE containing your blog URL is going to bring you traffic regularly. It works. Smart marketers do it. What are you waiting for?

Further reading:

The Ins and Outs of Forum Marketing

Forum Marketing @ JonathanLegerSuccess.com

Forums Like DigitalPoint Are Great For Blog Promotion

2. Blog Commenting

That’s my favorite. What other place to promote your blog than on other people’s blogs? Keep in mind – only post on niche-targeted BLOGS and do it frequently.

Further reading:

10 Techniques to Get More Comments on Your Blog

Do You Have A Blog Commenting Strategy?

A case study on why blog commenting kicks ass

3. Article Publishing

Isn’t article publishing death? Hm.. Pros are still doing it, and mostly have great success, including yours truly.

Further reading:

Get 5 Traffic Sources From Just 1 Article!

Article Marketing and the Duplicate Content Filter

Building Traffic with Article Marketing

4. Solo Mailing Ad Swaps

This is outrageously simple. You team up with someone in your niche who owns an opt-in list and approach him/her with a solo mailing ad swap. That’s a reciprocal mailing, win-win deal at its best. You won’t easily convince someone who did not do this before because they can’t see the benefits of ‘sharing’ their subscribers.

My advice – give it a try!

Further reading:

List Building Tips: Ad Swap Magic = Free Advertising

Ad Swap Magic

5. Thank-You Page Swaps

The concept is similar as ad swapping. You don’t exchange solo ads, you’re promoting your offer on someone else’s thank-you page. When they get new subscribers, your offer (text, ad, banner, etc.) is going to be seen by those leads.

Further reading:

The Dead-End “Thank-You” Page

39% of Viewers Accept Offers on ‘Thank You’ Pages

What does a great thank you page look like?

6. Blog Roll Swaps

Another favorite of mine. You have probably a blog roll already in your blog’s sidebar. What other great place to get new link partners than in that spot. Trade links with top blogs in your niche and add them to your blog roll.

This is probably the most often overlooked traffic-getting tactic.

Further reading:

What is a Blogroll? Why Would I Want One?

7. Blog Review Swaps

The concept is dead simple. You review somebody else’s blog (in 300-500 words), and he/she does the viceversa. The first time I did it it brough a few hundreds visitors and up to 100 leads. Still getting traffic and leads from this first blog review swap.

Small warning – it’s not wise you and your swap partner do it on the same day because it really looks like you traded these blog reviews. Readers might feel bad about this. You could publish the review on Monday, and ask your partner to do it the next week.

You could do it both on the same day if the blog your partner reviews is different than the one where you’re going to reciprocate with the review.

Further reading:

Write Reviews that Add Value and Solve Readers’ Problems

Mutual Blog Review

8. Product Review Swaps

The strategy is similar to the one above. You’re not reviewing blogs, instead you’re writing about products.

Find top niche blogs in your market who have their own products and write about them. Your partner will reciprocate if you have your own product, obviouslly. You could try this with affiliate products too

Further reading:

How to Create a Product Review Blog

10 Ways to Maximize The Value Of A Product Review

9. Digg

I’ve been playing with this for awhile and got some cool results. Nothing spectacular yet. I noticed most visitors stick with my blog for about one minute. That’s good, it means something interests them, and you might hit the jackpot using Digg.

All you have to do is submit links talking about news, or sharing videos/pictures.

The links could be on your own site/blog, or on other people’s sites/blogs.

Further reading:

5 Tips to Use Digg to Drive Blog Traffic

How to Build a ‘Digg Culture’ on your Blog

Ten reasons why ‘Top 10′ lists suck

10. Squidoo

I liked Squidoo idea the first time I saw it, yet I never started to use it. Some folks experienced great results with it, while others are ok. The concept is to create your own lense pages with Squidoo. It’s a good way to get traffic to yourblog and monetize it off Squidoo itself too.

Some tell it’s the next generation of article marketing. What would you think about it?

Further reading:

How can Squidoo bring in more traffics for you?

Loving Squidoo, and Loving our Lensmasters

Squidoo: Seth Godin’s Purple Albatross?

11. 43 Things

The first time I used this I got banned. Wanted to create another account but was too busy updating this blog.

If you want to have fun and get some traffic on autopilot at the same time, then start your ‘goals’ list and uploadthem on 43 things dot com.

Further reading:

Using 43things.com as a Marketing Tool

12. Tell a Friend

This is a great plugin which you could quickly add to your blog. It helps get more traffic by allowing readers referyour blog and postings to friends, and in social media sites.

I am testing it myself and starting to see some referrals. Hey, it’s 100% free, use it yourself!

13. All in One SEO Pack

Another great plugin, for WP users and blog owners.

It helps you do proper SEO for your blog postings, thus getting you more targeted and viral traffic (think in
terms of big Google)

Further reading:

Optimal SEO For WordPress: All In One Seo Pack

Search Engine Optimization for Blogs – SEO

Optimize Your WordPress Blog With All In One SEO Pack

14. Google (XML) Sitemaps Generator for WordPress

This plugin works hand in hand with the one above. It helps build a Google sitemap. Use this to index all your posts in Google, Yahoo and Msn, fast.

Further reading:

Sitemaps, Their Purpose, and Some Helpful Resources to Create Your Own

Is Your Google Sitemap Working?

Google Sitemaps with WordPress

15. MaxBlogPress Ping Optimizer

Another great plugin. This works with WP only and it’s well worth. Still free at the moment.

It helps avoid ping penalty and spamming. A great tool if you want to get indexed in blog/rss directories each and every time you do a new blog post.

Further reading:

What’s new in MaxBlogPress Ping Optimizer 2.2?

MaxBlogPress “Ping Optimizer” Review

17. WP-Polls

If you want more viral traffic, then GET interactive. Add polls. Not just one, multiple polls and surveys.

This brings the ‘community’ aspect to your blog, and makes it viral. If your polls are cool, fun and entertaining it might bring a lot of traffic at no cost.

I’m using the plugin above on this blog as you can see on the sidebar. Each time you refresh the page, you get to see a different poll. There are three so far, and I plan to add more in the near future.

Further reading:

Blog Polls – Add Interactivity to Your Blog

P.S. If you liked this TIP, you’re going to love the next ones.

Right-click here to get a PDF printer-friendly version
of this interview and read it offline!

Please introduce yourself to our readers…

Here’s my @kimarketing twitter bio: Single Mom. Shoe Lover. Coupon Queen. Blogger. Affiliate Marketer. Fun Gal. Yep, that’s me in 140 or less.

I regularly blog at http://workinmypajamas.com , http://blog.shoppingbookmarks.com and
http://www.shoeaholicsanonymous.com

When, how and why did you get started with blogging?

I started doing affiliate marketing back in 1998 which started as a hobby.  I was basically “blogging” about my personal life (ie couponing and my preemie twins) before they were called blogs.

How long did it take you to get you to where you are now, and what would you say to our readers who are already tired and frustrated of not seeing any results from their blogging?

I was able to quit my day job in 2001, and I’ve worked from home ever since.  Most people don’t realize that although “working from home” sounds like the perfect job, I do put in over forty hours a week in front of my computer, plus I have to motivate myself somedays to not get distracted.  If I need motivation, I can always email, call or IM several of colleagues in the same situation.

What are the TOP areas I should concentrate on in affiliate blogging?

Pick a niche that you passionate and knowledgeable about and find affiliate programs that tie into that niche.

Do you have a formula for attracting traffic to your blogs?

Besides engaging my loyal readers, I use organic SEO and PPC.

What would you say is the one most important thing you’ve learned about blogging and how could you manage so many sites and still have the time to write and handle other projects?

I outsource not only technical projects, but posts as well by either accepting guest posts or paying writers.

What’s the biggest mistake you made getting started in affiliate blogging?

Not outsourcing sooner and trying to do everything myself – it gets overwhelming.

So how do you make money online with your blogs and what are the best ways to monetize a blog short and long-term?

Besides affiliate marketing commissions, I also monetize my blogs with Google Adsense, Chitika and sponsored reviews.

I noticed most of your domain names are short and memorable. Do you have a strategy for selecting irresistible domain names for your projects?

Strategy? Ha. I call it Luck.

What’s your list building experience so far – what did you learn from getting readers onto your list and interacting with them? Do you have any list building plans for the near future?

A decade ago people loved to receive email, and I built up a list of hundreds of thousands.  Now people are way less likely to read e-newsletters, so I now recommend my visitors sign up for my RSS feeds instead of an actual e-newsletter (saves mailing costs as well).

Thank you for sharing your blogging advice with us!

For more remarkable blogging interviews, click here

Ask for comments

This seems incredibly logical, but many readers may feel apt to skim your page but not leave a comment that is worthwhile. If you ask for comments about a specific topic, you can definitely stir the waters and get a conversation started. Many readers may not take the initiative to leave a comment, but if you are asking, they will be more than likely to give their opinion

Ask specific questions

This goes hand-in-hand with the first tip, but if you ask questions on your blog, people will be likely to answer. Any questions that you ask, whether it is an opinion on a product, an opinion on a person, or advice, will be more likely to generate answers. Be as creative as possible! If you have a blog about pet care, ask people questions about their best remedies for keeping their pets active, and you will be likely to have a number of answers in personal opinions. It is always best to ask questions that are close to a person’s heart, making it more likely for a reader to comment.

Interact with any comments that your readers have left

If your readers have already left comments, it is to your advantage to answer back and stimulate the conversation. Readers don’t want to feel like they are talking to themselves, so you need to be just as active in commenting back on your blog to encourage comments.

Be a humble blogger

This is something that will make a genuine impression on your readers, but if you present yourself as a real person with weaknesses, people will be attracted to that. This will let your keep readers get to know you so that they will comment back as often as possible and maintain a loyal following. If people feel that they can really connect with you, they will be much more likely to leave comments about a subject matter and keep coming back to your blog.

Use the Keyword Luv plug-in

This is a surefire tactic that will work to guarantee tons and tons of blog comments, most of which will be spam. This is a WordPress plug-in that you can use to give a Do Follow link back to a website with a keyword as anchor text. Anyone hoping to gain backlinks to their website will be attracted to your blog to leave comments, but as a rule of thumb, it is important to only reward genuine comments that contribute to the conversation. As a word of warning, you will have to weed through a serious amount of spam with this plug-in, but it will provide a serious increase in comments to your blog

Guest post author info:

Chuggin McCoffee is a coffee fanatic that has spent the entirety of his career cultivating and studying all of the best uses and brewing styles for optimal coffee and espresso flavor. His specialty site for all coffee needs, supplies, and commercial coffee makers can be found at http://www.thecoffeebump.com

Your comments are welcomed!

Leave your input below. What did you learn today that will implement tomorrow on your blog? What else can you add to the discussion?

• “a phenomenon” as Liz call it
• “a post-it note“
• and a “valuable marketing tool“

If you want to get more twitter followers and double your blog traffic then, here’s a cool video post you should check it out

3 Simple Twitter ‘Tricks’ I Use to Get 250% More Web Site Traffic

Share your comments on the blog and tell the world what you think about the 3 simple twitter tricks

It was an error in fact, saying something like this:

“your computer is part of a spam network”. So my comment was vanished in the cyberspace.

I couldn’t believe it. I checked the problem and it seems the anti-spam plugin I’ve been using was blocking my IP.

So I removed WP-SPAM FREE plugin and now I can comment on my blogs fine.

Did this happen to you too?

Also, another blog commenting problem: when trying to comment on other people’s blogs [small or big, individual, or company], I couldn’t post my comment [it didn't appear at all] if I included a link with anything after the slash

For e.g. I could comment on blogs with codrutturcanu.com link in the “web site” field, but not if I added something afterwards, like for e.g. http://www.codrutturcanu.com/mbninja

It looks like the majority of blogs [regardless the link] has a plugin or WP default option not accepting urls with anything after the slash

That’s crazy. Just imagine if you have a blog and some commentators include a link like that in the comment field, their comment will go nowhere, so you upset those people.

That means less readers/comments on your blog. It’s really bad. We should check and solve this problem once and for all.

Make sure you let other bloggers about this problem and let’s spread the word!

You can actually double your blog revenue by promoting affiliate programs.

And the best part is this…

• You don’t need a site
• You don’t need a list
• You don’t need “techie” skills
• And you don’t even need any marketing experience

This blog income report will actually reveal to you a simple method to double your blog revenue

How?

You can do so by linking specific keywords in your blog posts into affiliate programs.

Take the following example:

Your blog is about Health and Fitness and you’ve talked about “healthy diet”.

What you can do is you can link that very keyword to an affiliate program. Now your readers can follow that link to buy the related product and you’ll be the one earning commission out of it.

Let’s say you have another post and you have the phrase “aerobic excercise”. You can link this keyword to a good aerobic exercise tutorial video and if your readers buy the video from that very link you’ll be the one getting paid again.

Getting paid commissions out of the keywords that lead to affiliate links is not a small deal. Can you imagine how much impact will that be making to your overall blog income?

Here’s how:

You have those keywords already linked with the affiliate link and it is going to stay right there. This means you…. yes, YOU will be the one AGAIN to earn commissions even if someone reads that post after say, 5 months or 8 months. Now, think about all the hundreds of blog posts lying idle on your blog. Don’t you want to earn from them lifelong??

The problem is that’s not possible to edit all of them, that might take a really loooong time or even forever.

But there’s a cool solution which I’m using in this post you’re reading now. It’s called Ninja Affiliate [a powerful wordpress plugin] and it turns your keywords into affiliate links. All your blog posts that laid idle and all those keyowrds that you wanted to link can be made affiliate links instantly, that can earn you passive commissions.

What about all those thousands of RSS subscribers you have? I can bet most of your loyal readers read your blog using RSS feed. That means they see no ads, and they don’t increase any page views. Unfortunately they just don’t do anything to increase your blog revenue.

BUT linking your keywords to affiliate links will earn you money even from your RSS readers as well.

Just imagine the possibilities; foresee how far you can go with your blog income. The choice is yours, whether to stick with your penny-wise income or try this effective blog for profit method

Look out for my next blog income report where I reveal to you more ways to earn blog income from your posts.

It is estimated that each blog post I publish using Ninja Affiliate it makes me twice as much money VS not using it.

It will shortcut your learning curve tremendously and help you avoid the costly blogging mistakes all beginners and even some veterans are doing, that’s for sure!

#1 Secret
Picking “Your” Niche
Is NOT Important, Is Crucial

While most “Gurus” claim that selecting your niche is important, I want to confess out loud — picking your niche is crucial! So you have to pick the right one — but how do you know which one is the best?

Whether you believe it or not, picking the wrong niche is suicide for your business and blog success; the sad part is that most newbie bloggers don’t know how to avoid this (big) mistake.

Here’s why:

98% of all the folks out there are listening to bad advice. If this seems familiar to you, stay cool, it’s not your fault, ok?

The so-called experts give wrong information on how to select a niche, and on how to monetize your blog. WHY? Because they’re “speaking” from theory, they’re not doing what they’re saying…

What do they suggest us to do first?

Keyword research… False! If you pick your niche based on key terms alone, you’re doomed to fail from the start. Read that again!

Then they tell you to get a free Blogger account, add the AdSense code and wait for the money to flood your bank accounts!

Ha, ha – this works only in their dreams!

I learned through trial and error that keyword research is just a small part of niche selection. And it’s not as important as these gurus claim it to be.

There’s a better way to do it. Here’s how to pick your niche the SMART way, and how to avoid the mistakes that most beginners commit.

Download your copy of “Niche Blogging Profits” @ LazyBlogging.com and find the 7 shocking secrets I discovered after starting 5 blogs and raking-in $35,000

What if the first time you got up out of bed you knew exactly how to promote your blog, and what to do in the next few hours to make money with it?

• Are you using daily to-do tasks in your online activities?

If not, you have to because this is how smart people organize their blogging activities and finish their most important tasks.

The problem with the regular way of writing to-do lists is that it’s limited and pretty boring.

What if there was an easier, fun way to write your to-do lists and get things done fast?

The solution is right here and it’s called todoodlist…

This 98-page book is the best product I’ve ever bought and read about getting things done faster… on paper!

Read it, it has my highest recommendation!

I’m already seeing improvements in my daily to-do tasks and blogging business profits because I got the book and tested the todoodlist

If you have any suggestions, questions or comments let me know.

Do you really believe him? Me neither… so let’s see what he has to share with us.

Click here to download the PDF version of this interview, or read the text version below:

1. Would you mind sharing a few things about

yourself and your background for our readers?

Sure Codrut, well my name is Ray Johnson, I was a failed offline direct marketing businessman, and literally came from the brinks of being homeless to generating my firsy $17k month online. I know run a successful online marketingcompany with 5 staff, called The Ray Johnson Group.

2. When did you get started blogging, and why?

I started last year as I knew the power of Blog when done properly, they are literally a sponge for traffic from the search engines, can help brand your name and get you recognition as well as building a subscriber base.

3. What’s the biggest mistake you

made getting started with this?

To be honest I had my blog outsourced to my coder – so I didn’t really face any difficulty!

4. How did you come up with the

idea of launching your blog?

I just knew that Blogs are an essential tool to build your business from the point of building a readership base and community of followers (to which you can assist, become the expert authority turn into affiliates for you!)  AND I also knew blogs get sucked up FAST by the search engines because of the frequent page updates and content changes. I also knew that I had a lot to say on a PERSONAL NON business level to my audience, and a Blog being an online diary – was a perfect way to do just that.

5. How often do you publish and

how do you get content ideas?

I try to publish daily or as often as possible and I get ideas from what’s happening in my business, the news and world events.

6. How do you mainly receive (or generate)

traffic to your blog?

Again I am fortunate now to be in a position where blog traffic generation is outsourced to my staff. They write articles linking back with anchor text, they leave deep blog comments on other marketers blogs, blog seo, twitter and facebook – and viral eBooks sold on eBay or passed around the net. I have an entire dedicated Outsource Team following my recent highly successful launch of http://www.outsource2success.com – which sold over $7000 in 6 days and generated over 3000 subscibers in the same period. EVERYONE should be outsourcing from day one, and my site shares my story and how ANYONE can achieve the same. You can see my team of staff here: http://www.therayjohnsongroup.com/staff.html

7. What is your most closely-guarded

secret about blogging for money?

I do not think there is truly a secret – just give before you receive. Make sure you research your blog posts to make sure the content you give is relevant and in demand and can really help people move forward in their businesses – the cash will always find it’s way back to you. You can find relevant content for blogs by searching in online forums – find out what people need help with, if there is a common need or want – look on the news (because after all a blog should mix business with real life, it helps with rapport from readers)

8. What differentiates your blog among

all the others in your niche field?

Basically, I vary my content from basic posts, to audio and video through to blog competitions and contest that really get my readers engaged. You can check out a popular competition or 2 I have done by visiting this link: http://ray-johnson.co.uk/category/contests

9. If you had to get a boost in comments

from your blog readers, how would you do it?

I would not want a boost in comments, you are only as good as your last post! Meaning that if you as the blogger thinks you can improve on comments received, provide better material for the audience.

10. Which are the blogs you visit frequently and why?

I read very few but John Thorhill’s is quite good! http://www.planetsmsblog.com

Lee McIntyre is also a great upcoming new marketer too @ http://www.lee-mcintyre.com

And of all the guru-made people I think Alex Jeffreys blog is pretty good too.. just shows you what can happen if you align yourself with successful people: http://www.postlaunchprofits.com/blog

11. Which are your favorite bloggers and why?

I am my favourite blogger!

12. Which plugins you can’t live without and why?

I am not tecchy so as my blog coding etc was done for me I couldn’t really say, although I know of Askimet and UBC ADBlock, and the Twitter plugins, they prevent spam, help others generate traffic to their sites and allow people to see my Twitter tweets and help become a follower of what I do.

13. What is the most important thing you learned about blogging that you could share with your best friend?

Be yourself, don’t be false or uppity. Just like in real life if people like what you deliver and like you- you win the battle.

14. What plans do you have for

the future with your blog?

I currently have a new IM chatroom, created for the blog to bring marketers together in my community, helping them build relationships together – get Adswaps and JV’s – a blog is really the central point to building your community of followers – whether they subscribe or not, at least they are listening and engaging what you are doing. This way there is a chance that even if word of mouth or viral marketing only plays a part – YOUR business is ALWAYS growing. Further more to Adswaps and JV’s I welcome ANYONE reading to contact me on my blog with their own products to help promote, and get their name out the on the big wide WWW.

You can contact me @ jv@ray-johnson.co.uk anytime.

We wish Ray success in the future and thank you very much for sharing your BLOGGING tips, tricks & secrets with us all! J

When you create a blog, you surely desire for it to succeed. You may want it to succeed financially, convey a message to as many people as possible or whatever your hopes may be.

If you are blogging for quite some time now and have no audience at all, then something must be awfully wrong. You got the right material, invested on a personalized design, bought banner advertisements and you even have a mascot. And yet, your blog is dead or the statistics does not meet your expectations. Your efforts are not good enough.

What if I could tell you on how to spice things up? To liven up your blog through contests! I was joining blog contests before even having my own blog. I even won my blog’s hosting and domain name from one of the contests that I joined. In those times, I observed that when there’s an ongoing contest, people starts noticing and patronizing the blog. People are suddenly buzzing about those blog. They increase their feed subscriptions, newsletter, free reviews and many more endless opportunities.

Having a blog contest is one way of promoting your blog. You can boost your traffic, increase RSS subscribers and more. Yeah, blog contests are cool but don’t just jump into organizing one. Be smart!

They can be quite expensive especially when you are sponsoring by yourself and there’s a contest in your blog every month! Because no matter how big your prizes are, it might suck.

So I made an ebook entitled Blog to success with Blog contests that will guide you to create contests that rock and can deliver the following in your blog.

• Boost your traffic
• Build links
• Network with other bloggers
• Increase your feed subscriber and
• Be a successful blogger

You could get the ebook for free if you subscribe by email and the download link can be found at the footer of the feed. After reading, you can now start organizing contest that will be a sensation! It will teach you on how to properly set your goals, the contest mechanics, set your budget and more. In the end, there are scenarios on when to organize a contest and aftermath reports of my two blog contests. Better subscribe now to learn all of these for free.