Linda Has a Talk with the Blog Traffic Genie

Note: The following is completely ridiculous. I know it is. I totally admit its purpose is to get you to buy something, make no mistake about that. Let’s say you have absolutely no intention of buying anything. That’s cool. In that case, treat it as a fun thought exercise to clarify your own ideas about what kind of traffic you want for your blog. Whether you end up giving me your money or not, I think you’ll learn something worthwhile. Have fun!

Linda (not a real person) is a mother with grown children who still live at home. She recently started a blog as a way to get her feelings and thoughts out (she’s very political in general and passionate about environmental issues). She resonates with the idea of "adding her voice" to the chorus of mothers all over the world who are discovering blogging.

She learned about making money online, recently, and became aware of how it might be possible to monetize her blog while feeding her passion at the same time. She put some ads on her blog and has seen a few dollars come in from that. She wonders if she could do more with this: after all, the economy doesn’t seem to be settling down and prices keep rising. She didn’t start blogging to make money, but now that she’s received a taste of it, she’s been thinking about it a lot. Increasing traffic to her blog clarifies for her as a goal.

As she absent-mindedly strokes her MacBook, a glowing purple form rises out of the cooling vents…

Greetings, Linda! I am the Blog Traffic Genie! I’m here to help you figure out why you want more blog traffic!

Okay… this is a little weird, Linda thinks, but what the hell. She answers:

Why do I want more blog traffic? More traffic means more money.

Pardon the obvious question, but why do you want more money?

More money means I can buy more cool stuff and pay my bills.

Again, sorry for asking the obvious, but what’s really at the heart of these desires? How would you feel if you could buy more cool stuff and keep up with your bills?

More confident and secure about myself and my family. My kids are finding life far more difficult than I did at their age.

What difference would extra confidence and security make in your life?

More confidence changes the way you act, which changes the way others treat you, which improves your prospects and opportunities.

More security means less fear of uncertain outside forces, less worry about where food and shelter will come from.

Is there more to this than money? Surely, you could try living within your means and avoiding debt?

Hmm… that’s a tough one. Not that how I spend my money is any of your business, but everything I’ve tried to cut costs only works until prices go up again or I suffer another cut-back at work. But to answer your question, I guess I would have to say that there is more to this than money. On the web, more traffic means more influence.

I’m just trying to get at the deep, driving forces that motivate us all. Speaking of which, what would you do with more influence?

More influence would allow me to reach more people, connect with them, share our stories together, and build community. 

So, really, at the end of the day, more traffic is all about stronger community, stronger connections? Why is that important?

Because it’s through our connections with others that we grow as human beings and become stronger. In this interdependence is the real, deep confidence and security we all seek, rather than surface-level ideas of money, confidence, or security.

Now, that you could monetize!

Easily.

Damn, that’s pretty heavy.

I know. I think I just freaked myself out a little bit. Say, aren’t I supposed to get three wishes or something?

Look, I’m only the Blog Traffic Genie. My operational scope is limited. But there is a Growing Blog Traffic Teleseminar you could register for.

Cool. Sign me up!