Growth or Giga-Profits- What’s ‘Yo Number?

(And yes I am FULLY aware gigaprofits is not a real word. I think. Lol) There are lots of ways to assess the success of your blog and many different site analytics you can use to determine where your blog or website is actually ranking in the blogosphere. And I’ll tell ya... numbers are nice and if the search engines and site analytics are throwing you lots of love, then all the better for you, your biz, and your ego. A rise in numbers means more people are seeing what you have to offer and reading what you have to say. That means your exposure and market reach is increasing and that’s never a bad thing. Plus you get to feel all warm and fuzzy by how popular you have become. But these stats alone will not fatten your wallet or boost your business to the next level. All the traffic in the world doesn’t mean squat if it’s not the right traffic for you. You’ve got to look deeper than that. If you really want to raise the bar for your business and up your profits like crazy, you have to go for broke and burrow down to find the people who will be mad about you and what you’ve got to offer them. In simpler terms, don’t be a stat whore, numbers aren’t everything.

Your Business Can Be Better

Ouch. That might’ve hurt a bit. Sorry but this is the school of tough love. ;) If there’s one thing that I’ve learned during my couple years’ stint as a solo entrepreneur and being my own boss, it’s that there’s always something I can do within my business to expand not just my exposure, but my revenue as well. (Whether I actually DO it now, well that’s another story for another day...) That’s what you should strive to do too. (The actual doing part I mean.) Sure the numbers that tell you how your site ranked against two thousand others in your niche are important, but they don’t really translate to money in your pocket. These statistics reflect how many readers have reached your site but it’s not a good enough measure of how much you earn from their visit. Anyone who’s ever been a gazillionaire (that’s you right?) knows that market reach alone won’t land you the big bucks. I know! That generalization was mildly sweep-y in nature but look at it like this. I’ve got over 30,000 targeted followers on Twitter which “should” mea I make oodles of money right? If I’ve got so much “reach”? Wrong! Just because I’ve got a lot of fans or followers, it doesn’t make them all gooey enough on the inside to hand me their money and become lifelong clients. In the same vein, it’s not enough for your potential customers to give your site a cursory view or a brief visit. That’s just a wee tip ‘o the scale. They have to be compelled to act on what they see on your site, be it a product, an advocacy or a service that you’re offering and tip that scale right on its backside. So... to recap. Scrolling through your page and leaving a comment or two won’t make your business grow—but good brisk sales can certainly do the trick!

Who’s Who

There’s a big difference between people who like your site and people who LOVE your site. The first group is content to simply browse through your archives and galleries, leaving a comment here and there on posts that they particularly liked and the relationship doesn’t go much further. But, those people in the second group are your bread and butter. They are the ones who will click through every single product you have available just so they can decide what to buy, and often end up making more than just one purchase. They are your “ideal customers”, the ones who will form the bedrock of your business. Your site analytics will not tell you which visitor is which, because everyone’s all jumbled up in the graphs and charts for a particular period of time. It’s up to you to make sure that you attract a balance both. And if you can’t, then choose to focus your attention on attracting the second group, because they are your real customers. In short, your business won’t survive on page views and hits alone as good as they feel in the moment. Internet stats will tell you whether or not your site is getting through to the market you want to tap, but you have do better than that. You have to find out if the market you’re tapping is actually a market that really wants your products and services.

Traffic Isn’t Magic

So how about it... are you reaching the wrong people? For all your careful planning and strategizing, it’s worth considering that the reason you have such high traffic stats but bad sales trends is that you’re on the wrong side of the tracks, so to speak. That means your real customers could be just over the horizon waiting for you to get your ass moving over to their side! That’s how you earn from your business. You have to find the people who really need or want what you have to offer and position yourself as the absolute best solution possible. Dare I say the only solution? (I dare, I dare!) And listen, you don’t really need a lot of traffic to pump up your sales. Instead, you need to concentrate on building a closely-knit group of clients whom you can rely on for your sales and who rely on you for what they need. Your 1000 raving fans can set you up for life. Maybe that means a revamp is in order. If so, get on it. Oh and when you do, don’t panic if people unsubscribe from your mailing list or unfollow you on Twitter because they don’t like your “new direction”. That’s OK, it happens. The bottom line is that if you’re blogging for your business you’re blogging for a reason and it’s not all altruistic. You’re working to make a living and the people that begrudge you that living, aren’t the people you probably want to do business with anyway.

So? Where do you stand? Are you more traffic than sales? Could you benefit from a reassess? Drop your thoughts below and let's discuss. And if you found this post useful, please share with your friends, it's always appreciated.

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