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So you’ve set up your blog and you’ve got several posts – and no readers. Now what? Here are 7 proven methods to drive traffic to your blog in no time…

Facebook Fan Pages. You can set up a Fan Page for your blog in about a minute – ten minutes if you’re hunting for a photo and just the right thing to say. It’s simple, easy and free, and here’s my favorite part: Once people become fans of your blog they’ll be able to see your blog updates when they’re on Facebook. Plus, when they like your blog, their friends see that and check out your blog, too. Some of them ‘like’ it, and their friends check out your blog, and so forth.

Twitter. Yes, just about everyone seems to be either on Twitter or joining, so go ahead and set up a Twitter account just for your blog. Again, it’ll take you a whopping 2 to 3 minutes. Make a few interesting Tweets, and then begin adding followers. Use one of the many Twitter add-ons to schedule your tweets to run around the clock, mixing them up and always making them interesting. Tweet each time you make a new blog post, and be sure to use your blog’s URL in your profile. Ask others to retweet you, continue to build your followers, and you’ll be driving traffic to your blog in no time.

Forum signatures. We’re going to assume you’re blogging about a topic you thoroughly enjoy, and thus you belong to at least one forum that focuses on that topic. Be sure to place your blog information in your signature line, using something catchy that teases them into checking out your blog.

Social Networking, RSS Feeds and Blog Directories. How are people bookmarking and /or finding blogs these days? Through blog directories, RRS feeds and social networking. That’s why you want your blog to have all those social networking buttons – they’re not just for decoration. And get your blog listed in all of the big blog directories as well. Here’s a list to start you out…

http://www.toprankblog.com/rss-blog-directories/

Blog Commenting. Find the most widely read blogs in your niche and comment on their posts. Here’s how: Create an Icon that absolutely catches the eye. If you’re not sure what it should look like, spend some time looking at other Icons/Gravatars and see which ones positively pop out at you. Next, leave helpful, interesting comments on the blogs, always with your blog’s URL in the website field. Last, watch to see which of these blogs sends you the most traffic, and focus your commenting on those blogs. Better yet, hire someone to post the comments for you.

Guest Posting. Now that you’ve been leaving great comments on these blogs, let’s take it a step further. Contact the blog owners and ask if you can write a guest post for them. Since they’ve been (hopefully) seeing and reading your comments, there’s a good chance they will be open to letting you do the heavy lifting of writing a blog post for them. To increase the chance they’ll say yes, actually attach the blog post to your email. If they turn you down, it could be because they didn’t like your topic, so ask if there is something else they would prefer. Then resubmit your original blog post to another blog.

Ezine Articles Dot Com. Yes, this is still a good way to drive free traffic, for a couple of reasons. First, people searching for information on Google often land on a particular article at this website – so why shouldn’t it be your article? With your blog in the resource box, this can result in free traffic. And occasionally your article will end up on someone else’s website – again, a good source of free traffic, not to mention another backlink.

By now you’ve either tried Facebook advertising or you’re about to. Here are a few tips and tricks I’ve picked up along the way to get my ads noticed and clicked on for the least amount of my advertising dollars…

1. Use an awesome picture. What’s the first thing a Facebook user notices about your ad? The picture, of course. Use only the best, highest quality images you can find that are relevant to your headline. For example, if you’re running an ad for jewelry, choose a photo of a gorgeous pendant or ring. If you’re advertising dating, use sexy ladies if you’re targeting men, and handsome hunks if you’re targeting women.

2. Target your ads to small groups. Rather than target an ad to women aged 18 to 45, take the time to target to smaller groups so you can test your results, such as women aged 18-21, 22-25 and so forth. By finding your prime targeted groups, you’ll achieve the greatest click through rates and the biggest bang for your buck.

3. Focus the ad. That is, target it to one thing and one thing only. Facebook ads are small – you don’t have the space to advertise the 5 benefits of your product so don’t try. Instead, keep it tightly focused on one theme throughout the headline, picture and description.

4, Start with CPC, then move to CPM. By starting your campaigns with cost per click, you’re discovering what people will click on. Once you’ve got your campaign fine tuned, you can back it out to cost per thousand impressions (CPM) for a lower overall cost to you.

5. Set your initial spending limits low. While you’re testing you want to be careful – sometimes Facebook advertising comes in like a dripping faucet, and at other times it’s more like a fully opened fire hose. By setting your initial spending limits low you can see which campaigns are making you money and then increase your daily limit on those.

Facebook makes it easier than ever to reach your perfect customer. Implement these simple tips with your Facebook advertising, and get better results right out of the gate.

I feel almost silly writing an article on this topic, because I can sum it up in one sentence:

Write about your own personal experiences in story form.

That’s it! People love stories – especially true ones – that show you overcame an obstacle, solved a problem, created something positive and so forth.

So if you’re writing a blog post about how to increase traffic, use your own examples of what you did, how you did it, and the results. If you can flavor it with storytelling skills that keep your reader riveted, so much the better.

And who better to show you how to tell a story than professional stand up comics? These guys and gals live and die by the story – they either get it right or they’re booed off the stage, and being booed is not funny or fun.

The steps to great storytelling according to comedians?

1. Be Brief (don’t ramble – get to the point)
2. Give Details (the useful ones – don’t bog the story down with useless stuff)
3. Use Story Twists (surprise is a wonderful thing)
4. Work the Crowd (or in this case, your readers)
5. Act Out The Characters (difficult to do in a blog, but I’ve always thought lending your own personality or character to your writing is extremely important)
6. Practice (write often – the more you write, the better you’ll get)
7. End on the Biggest Laugh (or point if you’re a blogger)

Get the details on how comedians tell great stories here:

http://www.askmen.com/money/how_to_400/443_how_to.html

Implement these storytelling tips into your blog posts, and you’ll engage your audience on a deeper level, and keep them hooked on your content.