Some Simple Truths About Traffic & Conversions (to get more of both)

Nick Maier

4d ago in Strategy

I've been observing a lot of similar questions in the group lately around traffic and conversions

a lot of "how" and "what" based questions

how can I get more traffic
how can I get better traffic
what platforms should I be marketing on
what ads or organic content should I do
what's everybody else doing for XYZ
how can I increase about page conversions

... etc

and what's consistent between them all is this feeling of confusion and overwhelm

I get that

I used to look at everything and go climb back under the covers on my bed and cry

there are SO MANY OPTIONS available to us

so many tools for getting traffic, driving traffic, and converting that traffic

SIDE NOTE: if you ever ask "what works" here's the secret sauce - they ALL work

the solution is to take action to find what works for you instead of seeking external advice from people who don't know your specific situation or context - only you know you
look to others that were in a situation similar to yours or have done what you want to do so you can model it and make it uniquely your own
success leaves clues

the reality of traffic and conversions is they're actually really simple

Alex does a fucking world-class job at communicating and showing this in his educational content

we overcomplicate it though due to the thoughts, assumptions, and beliefs we bring to the table

over the last 11 years I've learned a few things about myself - one of which is I'm really fucking good at seeing patterns and breaking complex systems down into simple, easy to understand steps

it's helped me write copy, market, advertise, and create strategies for some well established companies

I've written content for Aubrey Marcus, worked with the Barbell Shrugged Podcast guys, built alongside one of Wim Hof's top students and practitioners, written ads for Craig Ballantyne, created for Kerwin Rae - and more

if you're looking at your traffic and conversions and feel even ONE PERCENT of confusion, complexity, or overwhelm I'm going to break it down into simple steps for you

the goal is you feel underwhelmed

... for you to look at your current "problem" and say "oh, is that all I have to do"

and then you go and start the process of doing it 😀

LET'S DIVE IN

when it comes to traffic, you're making a choice based on what you want to invest

you have two choices

invest time and energy
invest money

both options have trade offs. both options have huge upsides

you simply need to answer "which do I want to invest more of right now"

thanks to Alex we then know we can choose either

(a) one to one communication

(b) one to many communication

if you're choosing to invest your time and energy you're going to generate your traffic from

outreach (cold and warm)
posting social content
networking

for outreach you can either:

text people
DM people
email people
call people

... you just choose whichever is most available to you right now, which FEELS the best for you, and which one gives you better access to your ideal clients

for social content you choose ONE platform

which ONE? whichever one your ideal client is already on

how often do you post?

however often you can commit to for the long term

there is no right or wrong here ... no best

it's simply if you DO MORE you have a larger surface area for success and get more feedback, faster

for networking you connect with people who ALREADY HAVE THE ATTENTION of your ideal client

you work out a "win-win" situation

and you use the "ugli orange" exercise to figure out what the other party actually wants

you might want the flesh of the orange and they want the rind

that's a win win

if you're choosing to invest your money you can either:

run ads
buy email lists and other contact details
buy into communities with your ideal clients

ads are simple

UNLESS your ideal client is specifically on LinkedIn, X or YouTube - run Meta Ads

go check out

@Devon Meadows

and Skool Ads Lab for what's working best for Skool Communities right now, or send me a DM

ads are really a math problem you're solving in a digital space using words, images, and videos

buying email lists and other contact details are simple too

you then email market to these lists and drive them to your community over time

@Ted Carr

has a great framework for "selling" your community without selling it

he had a convo with

@Matthew Thompson

on Skool Stories a while back

in it he discusses how you don't mention your community or sell it

you mention some product, course or offer and that it's $50/mo ...

... and then you just link to the community

or you use a price anchor and drive people to the community as a reframe

"I created this new course to help you XYZ. It's $499 but you can get it right now for just $50 here"

buying into communities is the cheat code approach

11 years ago I paid $3k/mo for access to a mastermind when I had made exactly $0 as a copywriter

within the month I'd make $10k as the mastermind was for small business owners looking to get to $10k MRR

I added a TON of copywriting value and people started reaching out to me for support

the owners of the mastermind saw this and contacted me to set up a partnership

they'd recommend me internally and they'd take 20% of the sale if I made it

it's the easiest traffic I've ever had

and I've used this strategy a number of times now

it got me to $15k/mo as a one-man "agency" working with one to two clients a month

FOR CONVERSIONS (skool specific) you're looking at three different things:

traffic quality
VSL quality
about page simplicity

tracking where your traffic comes from is a game-changer

it gives you objective data to see exactly what's working and what's not

this is why ads are so powerful

you get insane data in real time to see if you're messaging and targeting is working or not

social is a little slower, but the framework is the same

post content around XYZ themes
drive traffic to about page
analyse conversions

if conversions are low it's one of two things:

your content messaging isn't the right kind
your about page needs to be optimised

if your issue is #2 it's either your VSL or the simplicity of your about page

I'm currently finalising a deep-dive and analysis of the Skool Games VSL so you can see why it works so well, what specifically about it makes it work, and how you can apply it for yourself

it's a few days away from being done - so I won't dive into it here

I'll share it soon

to make your page simpler you want to make sure it answers four questions