Outlandish Stunts: How to Drive a Ton of Traffic with Crazy Claims

Here’s one sure way to build up a great following fast: do something just a little crazy.

If you’ve ever watched a reality TV show such as Celebrity Big Brother then you know what a draw it can be to attempt something just a little crazy. Millions of people tune in each and every week to see what new catastrophes would befall the celebrities taking part.

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Now imagine if you could generate that kind of traffic to your blog or website, just by attempting something off the wall.

The fact is, this is a tried and true marketing plan that companies have been doing for more than a century, and you can easily do something similar in your business.

Write a Book…Or 20
When Kristen Joy of TheBookNinja.com needed a boost in traffic, she turned to the medium she knows best: Kindle publishing. Accepting a challenge from her business coach, she agreed to write and publish a new Kindle book each week for 20 weeks.

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As the word spread about Kristen’s plan, her traffic grew (and grew, and grew). Why? Some people no doubt wanted to see her fail? But most people rightly thought that Kristen must have something important to say if she had committed to such a large project.

Nicole Dean pulled off a similar plan with her Blog World Tour. During the summer of 2009, she visited 15 blogs in 15 weeks, guest posting on the target blog for 5 straight days before moving on to the next. Did it work? Absolutely! Just like Kristen’s crazy book-writing spree, Nicole’s blog world tour gained her lots of traffic and thousands of new fans.

Stretch Yourself A Little
Now you don’t have to write a book a week for 20 weeks, or even spend the summer guest blogging. But there are plenty of things you can do to build some buzz and drive some traffic to your site. The key is to find something that would make most people say “I could never do that.” And then do it.

• Post to your blog every day for a year
• Post a new video to your YouTube channel every day for 90 days
• Speak at or attend one conference each month for a year

Whatever “stunt” you decide to pull off, it must have two components to be successful:

1. It must be outside what most people would consider their comfort zone
2. You must commit to it publicly and often—tell your list, your social media followers, your blog readers, your clients, everyone.

READ MORE: Do you want a business that is flexible and one that will allow you to live life on your own terms?

A challenge of this sort must have one other component as well—your absolute conviction to finish. The last thing you want is to publicly declare your intention then quietly fade out mid-way to your goal.

If you’re looking for a fun, innovative way to drive a lot of traffic to your website, and to get more eyes on your content, consider setting a big, outrageous goal for yourself. You’ll be surprised how many people turn up to watch and cheer you on, and you’ll have fun along the way.

Not only that, but at the end, you’ll have lots of content you can repurpose again and again, and you will have learned a thing or two about your audience and yourself, too.

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The Art of Being Shareable
Ever wonder what makes some Facebook posts, videos, or blogs “go viral,” while yours are lucky to have 7 shares and two comments? While it might seem like some well-kept secret, the truth is it’s easy enough to create shareable content, if you put some thought and creativity into your efforts.

Everyone Loves Infographics
Whether you want to know more about how coffee is grown, or you’re looking for ways to boost your blog traffic, you’ll find a variety of infographics to fill you in.

These colorful, easy-to-read graphics share vast amounts of data while still entertaining an audience. By condensing numbers and stats down to easily digestible bite-sized pieces, you can make valuable information highly understandable for any audience.

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Even better, your market will be happy to share (and share and share).
If you’re not artistic, or don’t have the skills required to create your own, you can hire designers from Fiverr and other job sites, or use a tool such as Piktochart to quickly make infographics your audience will love.

**Pro tip: create an embeddable link for your infographic, and encourage other blog owners to share it on their sites. You’ll automatically drive traffic from every site that posts your content.**

Create Valuable Posts
Writing a blog post? Don’t just skim the surface of a topic. Dig deep. Provide as much information as you can on the topic.

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While some bloggers will tell you that shorter is better, the truth is, posts of 3,000 words are more likely to be shared than their shorter cousins. So don’t worry about attention spans. Readers have proven they want good info, and they don’t mind digging into a long post to find it.

Let Your Personality Shine
No one wants to read or share another “me too” post. Not you, and not your audience.

What they do want—and what they’ll happily share with their friends and fans—is personality-driven pieces that aren’t afraid to take a stand.

That’s why coaches such as Jody Jelas and Marie Forleo are so popular. You know, simply by reading their content and watching their videos, that what you see is exactly what you get. Nothing is hidden; there’s no “corporate speak” to be found.

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It’s easy to form a connection with someone like that, because you feel like you know them personally. And what do you do with your friend’s content? You share it, of course!

​It doesn’t take much to be shareable. Just be yourself, be transparent, and be valuable. In short, just do what you’re already doing, only with a little bit more oomph!

To Your Success!
Lindsey
www.digital-duchess.com