Traffic is the number of people who clicks on your site to see what you have to offer.

To get traffic, you have to let people know that you are there and that you have something to offer.

If you were to start a business in the middle of the high street, you could be reasonably sure that you would get traffic. Lots of it. People would find you and sample your goods.

If you were to start the same business in one of the side streets on the edge of town, things would be different. No one would know that you are there. There would be no traffic. You would need to advertise.

Trading on the internet is similar to having hundreds of thousands of small shops on the little, narrow back streets at the edge of town. There are hundreds of other shops selling things similar to yours. They all need traffic.

Who is going to get the trade?

The answer is not the one who spends the most money on advertising. It is the one who has the most effective advertising.

What is the most effective means of advertising?

That is the crucial question.

How much money do you have?

It's all right, I am only joking. It need not cost you a fortune.

Some of the most effective advertising is free. I repeat, 'FREE'.

I don't know about you but I would much rather spend a little effort than spend my hard earned money.

If you are desperate for a quick response, I would advise 'Pay-Per-Click' advertising. This way you only pay for the number of times that someone clicks on your site. That is the equivalent of paying a fee for every time someone looks in your shop window, even if they don't buy anything.

On the other hand, if you can afford to wait for a week or two for the potential customers to come looking through your shop window, there is a far more effective way that is absolutely free.

Do you subscribe to an e-zine or newsletter? Most of us subscribe to several. The average newsletter/ezine consists of an introduction. Followed by an advert, followed by an article, readers' letters. Another advert and probably another article.

It is these articles that we are interested in. Each one will have a by-line at the bottom inviting you to visit their website or something similar.

These articles are seldom written by the publisher of the ezines. They are drawn from a reservoir of articles held by a small number of specialist article libraries.

Study the articles in the ezines that you receive through your email. As a general rule, they are written to inform on some aspect of on-line business. There is nothing there that the average knowledgeable person could not write.

If you had written it, the by-line would have been yours. The link at the bottom would be to your website. The number of potential readers could be anything from a few hundred to a few thousands.

In a matter of weeks, it could be used by ezines all over the world. It could be read by probably a million or more people.

If only two percent of the readers click on your link you are in business, and it will have cost you nothing. Just think what it would have cost you to get 20,000 visitors through 'Pay-per-click'.

The ezines that will publish your article are the ones that are interested in your topic, they are not picked at random. Their readers are all your potential customers.

If you are thinking that you could not write an article, think again. When you stop to consider the potential rewards of a 300+ word article, it is not a matter of 'Can I' it is a matter of how soon can I get going.

If you really want to do something, you will find a way of doing it. When you have written your first article you will be keen to get started on the next one, and the next. It can become addictive.

Whatever you do, don't just think about it. DO IT. It's money for old rope.

All the best....Bob...