Exactly what to do when you’re not getting any traffic, sales or signups.

Welcome to the slump….population you….and about another 50,302 bloggers, coaches, and online business owners. The fresh new-car smell of your latest blog posts, freebie or digital product went stale.  And yourself doubt skyrockets…

• Am I a fraud?
• Does everyone hate me?
• Why won’t they share my stuff?  I worked really effing hard on it!

Depressing, right? Before diving head deep in a vat of rocky-road (or sour patch watermelons…if you’re like me) – Take a breath.  It’s normal.  But we both know you’re not normal. You’re a driven, action taker who doesn’t take things lying down.  So here’s exactly what to do when you find yourself in a drought:

1. Write down what you’re actually doing (and stop doing it)

If the only thing you’re doing is littering Facebook with “Come buy my awesome new planner!!!!!!” every day you won’t get new sales unless you’re adding 100’s of new likes and followers daily. If last month you spent 3+ hours in Facebook Groups everyday “being of service” but your subscriber list is sitting at zero, something must change.

2.  Start selling with stories

Free isn’t free…yes even your blog posts cost time. Something your readers and customers don’t have a lot of. But, us humans always have time for a good story. Which is more appealing… “MY calendar opened up!!!!  I’VE GOT ROOM FOR 3 PEOPLE TO GET A FREE 30 MINUTE SESSION!!!!! BOOK NOW!!! or “I was bawling. I couldn’t even fit in my car. You see, a couple months back I went to the mall to buy a new purse. I was tired of losing pens and pennies in the hole of my old bag’s lining. After 45 minutes of inspecting heaps of bags. I finally found one that was just right. I bought it, then started walking back to my car. Some jackass parked soo close to my car I could barely get the driver’s side door open. While cursing up a storm (and fighting the urge to key that buttface’s car). I toss my shopping bag into the trunk, then tried to squeeze into the driver’s seat. But my stomach got caught on the door. No matter which way I turned, angled or bent I couldn’t squeeze into my car. I swear at least 50 people walked by gawking at the fat chick with a red face, tears streaming down her face in embarrassment and disgust because she let herself “get that bad” that she couldn’t get into her car…in public.  That was my rock bottom with my weight.  And while it’s been a long and whining road. The one thing that made all the difference was having someone to talk to, to vent, to share my victories and not judge me when my “cheat day” turned into a “cheat week.” With someone who actually knows what it’s like to like to be fat. Not a stick-figure barbie who’s been skinny her whole life. But someone who gets it..for real. And I’d be honored to be that person for you….head over here [link] and sign up for a 30-minute call to chat. I’d love to hear your story. (And I’ll let you know what awful thing I did to his car before I left too)  See?

3. Skip the dump threads. Be a guest star.

I can’t lie, I still share my blog posts and freebies into those group threads. You know the ones…“Post your latest creation here” but that’s not my main source of traffic. It’s an extra, that I sneak in when I’m waiting for my daughter to get out of school or have just enough time to do nothing. To actively grow my community and piggy bank –  I pitch guest blog posts, podcast interviews and recently was in my first summit. The Social Launch Podcast – Email Marketing Tips For Small Bussiness 

Edtroxellcreative.com – Email Marketing Made Stupid Easy®: Turning Subscribers Into Buyers Without Bugging Them [Guest post]

MONEY & IMPACT VIRTUAL CONFERENCE – How to write sizzlin’ email copy that converts ho-hum, “just-passing- through” website visitors into hot leads on your list and ready-to-buy customers [Summit] Make it a mandatory practice to pitch to 3 different publications a week. 

4. Do a Round Up Style Post

This is more for traffic but top internet marketers like Mike Hyatt are starting to turn these roundup-style post into epic opt-in gifts, too.

1. Pick a topic, closely related to your niche
2. Reach out to 3x as many bloggers and influencers as you want to feature – Ask them the question. Explain your post, when it will go live and your deadline. (Remember to ask for headshots, bios and link to their website or freebie). Include alittle bit about you in the P.S. The key keep it short, sweet and to the point.
3. Send out an “It’s alive” email. Let’s everyone who contributed know it’s live, thank them again for contributing, ask for the share -make it  easy. Include click to tweets, graphics and prewritten messages.

Some examples:    33 Soulful Luminaries Share 2016 Marketing Predictions

                    6 Fitness Experts Share Their Top Tips for Flattening Post-Pregnancy Pooch

                   16 Cycling Bloggers Tell You Why You Should Start To Ride Your Bike Now

5. The Smart Nudge

This is where you write a really actionable blog post or video normally a “how to” list post.  The last “way” is the main focus of your product, service or freebie. This is one of my favorites because you do some hardcore teaching Say, I want to sell a small product called – How to land interviews on high-profile podcasts.  I’d create a blog post – 4 Ways To Grow Your List On Warp Speed. I’d talk about webinars, summits, guest blog posts, hen save podcasts for last.  I’d talk about the benefits: podcast are fast, you can talk about the same thing over and over again, never worry about typos. But then share a story about getting rejected all the time and how I turned it around. And how I don’t want that for you then mention my: How to land interviews on high-profile podcasts swipe files, templates, and tracker.