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I’ve decided to kill my blog… Yep, the good ol’ “Internet Traffic Report” at DrivingTraffic.com has gone the way of the dodo… …and frankly I feel sort of like a dodo for ever getting into blogging in the first place. I know that sounds a bit extreme, but I’ll lay out why I believe the “business blogging” model is broken, and how you can join me in testing out a brand-new model that I believe will make more money and deliver a far-richer experience for the reader. But before we get to my “New
Plan”, let’s discuss why I believe blogging is BROKEN… Why Blogging Is Broken… Just to clarify, I don’t think blogs are wrong for everybody…
So when I say “Blogging Is BROKEN”, I’m NOT referring to any of the categories above… I’m talking about BUSINESS BLOGGING, …and here’s why. There were a number of reasons why I decided to kill my blog, but these are the two biggies… For starters, (next to tweeting) blogging has become one of the lowest forms of communication. No, I really don’t care what you ate today nor do I care about your random musings. If you’re going to post content (especially if it’s for a business) then give it some thought first and actually make a freakin’ effort! Unfortunately, most “bloggers” don’t do that, which over time lowers the perception of all blog content and frankly I’m not going to be party to it any longer. I’ve worked my tail off over the last decade to get good at this online marketing stuff, and I’ve experienced a fair bit of success. (Like we say in Texas, it ain’t braggin’ if it’s true.) And not to toot my own horn too loudly, but when I have something to say it’s usually pretty good! So rather than have my content lumped in with some chuckle-heads “random musings”, I’m choosing to change up the medium completely to remove any possible confusion. SIDE NOTE: Now don’t get me wrong…there’s still a place for relationship building and having fun. I just believe that a Ryan Deiss like Facebook Fanpage is a better medium for that sort of activity. If you want to maintain respect and authority for your content, however, you need to change the medium. (Don’t worry…I’ll tell you what medium I’m switching over to in just a bit…) Secondly, if you’re going to read my blog, you have to remember to visit it on a regular basis. There’s just one problem (actually TWO problems) with that scenario: you’re 1) lazy and 2) distracted. Don’t be offended…I’m lazy and distracted too. Heck, there are a lot of blogs I’d love to read on a regular basis, but most of the time I just forget because it requires ME (the reader) to take action. Now I know, I know…there are RSS readers and other tools that will pull your favorite blog posts down for you, but let’s be real for a minute…do you use an RSS reader? (Or better yet, do you even know what an RSS reader is? Had you ever heard the phrase “RSS Reader” before I mentioned it just now? If you’re answer to either question was “No”, then case closed and you can skip my brief discussion about RSS readers below…) Personally, I don’t use RSS readers. I never have. I’m not really sure why, but that’s not the point. The only thing that matter is… …according to Forrester Research I’m not alone:
As you can see from their study, 78% of respondents don’t use RSS, and when informed about what RSS was, only another 19% showed any interest in using it. I realize these results are from 2008 (sorry, I couldn’t find any more recent stats), but if you believe those numbers have gone up you’d be wrong. Today, of the people who use RSS, most use it to pull their blog posts inside of Facebook and Twitter. So yep, that means your precious content is stuck between pointless status updates and Farmville invites. Well I don’t care how “meaty” my content is…when it’s stuck inside a turd sandwich like that, it still winds up with crap on it. NO THANKS!! “But What About Email?” I can almost hear someone asking me… “But Ryan, can’t you just build an email list on your blog and then email your subscribers to let them know you’ve made a new post?” Yes, you could. And I did that…for years. But it always begged the question: “Wouldn’t it be easier if I just emailed them the content instead of emailing them ABOUT the content? Wouldn’t that shave off on extra step?” Sure, you’d miss out on the commenting, but I’ll take readership over comments any day of the week. Plus, with my “New Model” I’m not really concerned with comments or with my content “going viral”. This new model requires a completely new mindset…one that probably won’t be very popular with the Social Media Elite and Silicon Valley Socialists. (That’s ok…I’m betting they never liked me much in the first place, and to be honest the feelings been mutual.) But that being said, at least one member of the “Social Media Elite” seems to agree with at least a portion of my new plan. The Return of Paid? As a way of introducing my “New Plan”, I want you to watch a video that respected digital marketing expert, Gary Vaynerchuck, posted recently. It’s only 3 minutes long, so click the PLAY button and see what he has to say about “The Return of Paid Content”…
So what did you think? Personally, I couldn’t agree more. And if you’re still reading this, then chances are good that you either already sell something online (or will very soon be selling something online)…and chances are even better that that “something” is information. If that’s the case, then I hope you agree, too, because frankly your very business life DEPENDS ON “The Return of Paid?” But whether you believe in it or not, it really doesn’t matter. This is a movement that has been building for some time, and it’s going to happen. Consumers in every market are overwhelmed with all the “free content”, but more than that it’s literally making them SICK. Finding information on the Internet today is sort of like drinking tap water in a 3rd world country. Sure, it’s wet…it might even quench your thirst…for a bit. But before long, you’re vomiting out of both ends because the “water” (like most of the “free content” on the internet and blogs) turned out to be filled with dirt, filth and parasites. Well I for one believe that it’s time to start offering safe, pure, bottled water. On the next page I’m going to tell you about my “New Plan” and how I’m “bottling” my own content moving forward. But just be warned… Like bottled water in a 3rd world country, it won’t be expensive…but it won’t be free, either. My “New Plan” As I’ve already said, I’m no longer offering a free blog. In fact, I’m no longer offering
free content in any form any longer. …but my days of sending out free content is over. I’m sorry, but I just don’t believe in it for all the reasons I mentioned on the previous page. Right now there are approximately 200,000 subscribers to my email list. If this means that the vast majority unsubscribe, I’m ok with that. I’d much rather communicate and share what I know with a smaller group of “insiders” who actually care…who actually consume…who actually implement… …than with 200,000 tire-kickers any day of the week. So what am I doing? What’s the “New Plan”? It’s simple… I’m Switching To A 100% Pay-To-Subscribe Email List It’s called “Driving Traffic Insider”, because I’m essentially taking the same content I would previously only offer on my blog at DrivingTraffic.com (actually, much, much better content as you’ll soon see) and I’m only offering it to a small group of “insiders”. As the sub-headline above suggests, this service won’t be free…but it won’t be expensive, either. (Because as you’re about to find out, this ain’t about the money,…) For a while I struggled with how to describe the new “Driving Traffic Insider”. I was tempted to call it a “paid newsletter” at first, but it’s not really a newsletter… In fact, before I tell you what it is, I should first tell you what it is NOT: THIS IS NOT a daily newsletter. You have a lot on your plate, and even if I thought you had time to consume a DAILY email, the fact is I don’t have something new or cool to talk about every single day of the week. More than likely you’ll receive an email once or twice a week…sometimes a little more but rarely less. THIS IS NOT a training program. The
purpose of “Driving Traffic Insider” is to keep you up to date on what’s
working TODAY in online marketing, and more specifically what I’m doing to
grown my own business. There will be times where I spend a few emails
discussing the same topic, but it’s not intended to function as a
full-blown home-study course. Ok, so now that you understand what it isn’t, let’s talk about what it is… Here’s What You’ll Get When You Become an Insider… Driving Traffic Insider is a premium marketing email alert service. At least once a week (and sometimes more than that) you’ll get a personal email from me containing a nugget of actionable information. The topics will generally fall
into one of these categories: · My marketing successes and
failures. I'm constantly trying new things, and the results of these test, whether
they’re amazing successes or epic failures, will find their way into your
inbox.
· Personal observations on industry
trends and new developments. The marketing world, both online
and off, is constantly changing, and you’ll get my insights and hear what
we plan to do about them long before the rest of the world sees what we
do.
· Hot new tools and unknown resources. My team and I are always stumbling across new, "killer aps" that make our business more efficient and profitable, and when we find a new one you’ll hear about it first… In short, it’ll be like you’re a fly in the wall in my office in Austin, TX. When I, or someone on my team, finds something cool, you’ll hear about it. When we try something new and it works…you’ll hear about it. And when we royally screw the pooch…well…you’ll hear about that too. And the price to be on this “Insiders” list? A measly $10 bucks a month. Seriously, for $10 a month you get to “virtually” hang out in my office and get the inside track on what’s working right now – TODAY! – in digital marketing. I could spend a lot of time doing a massive value build, but frankly I won't to bother. You either see the value in this and you want to be a part of something new, or you don’t. If you don’t, that’s fine. But if you DO, then I invite you to CLICK HERE NOW TO BECOME AN INSIDER And in case you were wondering… This Ain’t About The Money I don’t want to brag, but here are the facts….
So why do I tell you all this? Well for starters, I want you to know that when you become a Driving Traffic Insider, you’re going to get real, actionable information from someone who’s actually selling online in MULTIPLE MARKETS In other words, I walk the talk. Also, I want you to know that this ain’t about the money. I know that sounds crazy, but it really isn’t. If I had 10,000 people subscribed to this service, that would only cover my overhead for a week. In other words, my business was active and growing before I got the idea to do this, and it will continue to grow and flourish if I stop. So if my primary reason for doing this isn’t for the money, what is it? It’s simple: I want to protect my content, and selfishly I want you to give it the time and attention it deserves. If I post my content on a blog (like everyone else) or offer a free newsletter (like everyone else), you’ll treat my content like everyone else’s. And frankly, I just think my content is better than that! So, by charging you $10 a month to receive my information, I know that you’ll at least open and read my emails when I send them to you. More importantly, I know that if you open and read my emails, you’ll also implement what I tell you to do (because you’re receiving the information in small, actionable chunks)… …and if you implement what I tell you to do you’ll get positive results, and the cycle will repeat. (And hopefully you’ll give me even more money in the future.) It’s a simple, yet elegant plan…but it only works if you first make an investment in the content. Make sense? Ok, then what are you waiting for…BECOME AN “INSIDER” NOW!
Talk soon, Ryan Deiss P.S. In case you were wondering, yes there is a guarantee. Not only can you cancel at any time, if you aren’t happy the first month I’ll even give you a refund. It’s only $10, but if it means that much to you I’ll gladly return it to you. At that point it’ll be ovvious that you need it a lot more than me… But seriously, I want to raise the stakes even higher… If you don’t believe the information you receive in the first two weeks is worth your investment for an ENTIRE YEAR, I want you to cancel. Again, THIS AIN’T ABOUT THE MONEY! We’re doing something unique with this model. We’re building a tribe. We’re starting a movement. If you want to be a part of it, then by all means I want you on the bus. If you’re going to be negative and scarcity minded, however, then I want you to leave and never come back. Do we have a deal? Ok, then, you know what to do next…. CLICK HERE TO BECOME AND INSIDER NOW!
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