Last month, I asked my subscribers to submit their most pressing questions about information marketing. Over the next few days and in preparation for my upcoming webinar on February 17th at 9PM Eastern / 6PM Pacific, I am going to answer some of these questions in the most straight forward, no hype, completely truthful manner possible.

Let’s get started:

Question: If I don’t have a list, what is the best method of driving quality traffic to my website? In other words, how will make people view me as a guru in whatever ebook I’m selling?

Real Deal Answer: There were a lot of questions about driving traffic that were similar to this one and there are some big assumptions in the question that need to be addressed as well. First, let’s answer the generating traffic question.

First and foremost, there is no “one” best way. You need to use as many ways as you possibly can on a profitable basis. There are free ways for you do this such as using article marketing, becoming active in forums dedicated to your topic of expertise, using YouTube, setting up an Amazon.com store, affiliate marketing, etc. Now, the truth is that none of these methods are really “free” because you are making an investment of your time. Additionally, unless something goes viral, in most cases this is only going to deliver a trickle of traffic to your website. This is not to say that you shouldn’t do it. You should.

Then there are paid methods of marketing: pay-per-click, banner ads, email advertising (solo emails and ads placed in Ezines).

My Favorite Traffic Generation Methods (Including One None of the Gurus Talk About but Secretly Use)

If you were to press me as to which two to use immediately, I would tell you posting in forums and email advertising. (I have helped clients build seven figure businesses with these two methods.)

But, if you were to really press me, I would tell you that OFFLINE marketing trumps ‘em all. Some of the most successful infomarketers I know (NOT gurus only selling how to make money on the Internet crap but men and women selling information products in real niches) are using direct mail, magazine advertising, and *gasp* even outbound telemarketing to make their fortunes. Direct mail and advertising in niche specific publications are some of the BEST and easiest ways for you to quickly drive quality traffic to your website. In almost every case, prospects who come from offline marketing convert at a higher rate to being paid customers than those who come from online methods.

This brings up another very important point – what is your marketing budget?  If you do not have any money to invest in marketing, building your list and your business is going to be slow going. This is NOT to say that you shouldn’t do it; you just need to be aware that it is going to take you some time. Obviously, if you have money you can invest in marketing, your results will be quicker because you can employ and test different methods.

Remember the information products business is a real business like any other. The guy who opens a restaurant needs to invest money in marketing to get people to come in and eat. The dentist needs to invest money in his marketing to get new patients.

Here is a key for you to remember: The more money you can invest in acquiring a customer the faster your growth will be. In fact, the person who has set up the economics of their business so they can invest the most money to acquire a customer typically is going to be the most successful and leave his or her competition in the dust.

Which brings us back to the question of selling ebooks. An ebook is a fine marketing tool BUT it is not what is going to make you rich. In fact, a “real” book is not going to make you rich – it too should be used as a marketing tool that leads people to buying your back end products or services. Don’t believe the hypsters and gurus who tell you that you’re going to become a gazillionaire by selling ebooks. Ain’t gonna happen.

During my webinar on February 17th at 9PM Eastern / 6PM Pacific, I will be giving you a complete model for a real deal six or seven figure information marketing business from generating your first lead all the way through the back end sales process. If you have not blocked off this time on your calendar and made the commitment to actually attend the event and take notes, I strongly recommend you do that now. Registration opens next Monday.

Tomorrow, I will be answering a questions that many, many people have on their minds which acts as a stumbling block for them actually getting started in the greatest business in the world – the information products business.

If you have any questions or comments about this article, feel free to post a comment here on my blog.

Kick butt, make mucho “DEE-nero!”

~Dave Dee