8 Mystical And Practical Processes That Drive More Traffic To Your Site: Part 2
Last week, we talked about the first four ways to start getting more eyes on your project, website, or service.
Quick refresher:
Ignore Everyone Else In Your Field
Consistently Show Up
Make Stuff You Actually Want to Make
Make Stuff People Actually Want to Consume
Looks simple enough, right? Welp, this week we’re going to dig into the more mystical and alternative aspects of getting more traffic to your site, as well as *very practical* ways to grow your audience.
You’ve been waiting with bated breath, right? Here’s the second half of that epic list that we’ll cover today:
5. leverage your human design type
6. use your sun sign house placement to create from your unique perspective
7. start building your list
8. uplift the people around you
Keep scrolling to get the full scoop on how to grow your audience and get more eyes on your work! (This is so exciting, right!?)
leverage your human design type
Hot take: Knowing your Human Design type is necessary for growing a successful business.
I kid you not, I found out I was a Projector the day that I launched Holisticism. The strategy of “wait to be invited” was completely antithetical to how I’d lived my life for 28 years — but when I sat down and thought about it, I realized that despite being successful I had often felt like I was trying to run through a brick wall in past jobs. So, I figured I had nothing to lose by trying to approach Holisticism as a Projector would.
I don’t pitch myself or the business. I don’t run ads. I’ve never done a cold email to a potential partner, investor, or brand. In fact, I rarely start the conversation and instead, allow people to come our way. To this point, I believe that waiting to be seen and acknowledged for my hard work as opposed to actively pitching Holisticism has been key to our growth.
It might sound too mystical, too “right-brained,” or just lazy (!) to you. That’s OK. But I know what works for me and my business, and I know that listening and leveraging my innate gifts as a Projector has made growing Holisticism far easier than any other job I’ve ever had. I can’t express enough how much I recommend everyone at least consider checking out their Human Design type and strategy!
use your sun sign house placement to create from your unique perspective
The moment you start acting like yourself, you become instantly more attractive to the right people.
It’s funny — humans have this spidey-sense around inauthenticity. We can’t quite put our finger on it every time, but we know when someone is acting or speaking unlike themselves. It’s like the Uncanny Valley or something. We actually feel revolted or repulsed when people act out of integrity with who they are.
When you talk, create, and act like YOU, people can’t help but want to follow what you’re making. It’s so attractive to your audience because it’s real. Honestly, there’s nothing new under the sun — your unique perspective and voice are what people are truly interested in. Which is great news because again, THERE IS NOTHING NEW OUT THERE. Except you.
Use your Sun sign to get clearer on who you are, what your purpose is, and how you authentically and uniquely shine a light on the world. Yeahhh, you’ve probably been reading your Sun sign horoscope since Dawson’s Creek was on the air — miss you, Pacey — but when was the last time you dug into the house placement of your Sun?
If you’re examining your natal chart, you’ll see there are 12 numbered sections that make up the circle in the center. Those are the delineated houses in astrology, and each house represents a different area of our lives. Take a look at which of the 12 houses your Sun sign falls into (the Sun glyph looks like a circle with another circle inside of it). What does that house represent, and how does the combination of your Sun sign attributes and the house placement shape your unique perspective on that area?
THAT, my friend, is your secret sauce. When you understand what’s special about your perspective, it makes it a whole lot easier to create authentically. You can talk and act like yourself.
For example, let’s say your Sun was Aquarius in the Eighth House. The Eighth House is the house of mystery, birth, death, shadow, and transformation. Aquarius is an analytical, almost scientific sign. You might interpret this perspective as one that uses data, reasoning, logic, and even a cool sense of humor to demystify certain “shadow” areas of life. Practically, this could look like:
a nutritionist who uses scientific studies to debunk trend food myths
a meditation teacher who uses the anatomy of the brain and neurology to teach people how meditation works
a personal finance expert who uses tough love and actionable steps to help get people out of debt
a copywriter who eschews flowery language and uses plain speak (and a few curse words) to encourage conversions
There are so many ways to run with it, but you get the picture. Once you have clarity on your unique perspective, it becomes so much easier to use that “voice” in everything else you make.
start building your list
The Internet is amazing. No doubt. It can connect you and your content to billions of people around the world who don’t even know your first name!
But if you’ve ever started a blog, or a Tumblr (RIP to all the failed Tumblrs I started in college — “Ponytail Club” was my favorite), or an Instagram page, you know that it’s more likely that you’ll hit “post” on that brilliant article you wrote and … crickets.
Unfortunately, no one is going to randomly stumble across your cute URL when you’re first starting out — no matter how dialed in your unique perspective and authentic voice is.
I know, it’s a bummer. And can I just say? It’s low-key demoralizing to continue to make content that maybe 10 people will read. I’ve been there, it’s not nice. Don’t do it.
But here’s where your superhero comes in — the email list.
It might be considered old school, but building a high-quality email list is the best possible thing you can do to get more traffic to your site. It might seem like a chicken or egg problem, but trust me, you can grow an email list without a website. I did — in fact, I only had a Squarespace landing page for the first six months Holisticism existed! Crazy dumb. But hey, it worked out OK.
why you should build an email list
An email list is necessary to build your audience for a few reasons:
You own your email list, and you have a better likelihood of getting your email list members to interact with your content than other platforms. Facebook and Instagram are great mediums, but even people with huge followings complain that the algorithms are unreliable. There’s a chance that you have die-hard followers on Instagram who simply just don’t get served your content anymore. Think about it — do you really see what all the influencers you follow put out every single day when you flick open your app? Probably not. Email might be less sexy and a little old school, but at least you’re giving your viewers a chance to see what you’re throwing down. Even if they decide to trash your note, at least they’re actively making that choice — not passively ignoring you simply because an algorithm owns your work.
You’ll virtually guarantee consumers of your content without spending money on ads. Send an email out once a week or once a month that aggregates all of your content in one place. Remind your list that you exist and that you’re making great stuff for them, and people will respond by interacting with your content — and hopefully, by sharing with their friends.
You can get even more feedback by paying attention to email analytics. Test which subject lines increase your open rates. Note which links get the most clicks. See what content encourages people to respond to you. These are important markers that help you iterate and fine-tune the content you’re creating. Listen to the feedback you’re getting — even though it’s not explicit, your consumers are still telling you a lot.
Building my email list set up the rest of my journey with my business, and is still my number one priority today. If I had to do it again, I’d start the exact same way: I emailed 100 of my friends and asked if I could add them to a newsletter I was going to write. Then, I asked them to forward the newsletter (if they liked it) to one person. I cannot stress enough that it was MORTIFYING FOR ME to write that email — to put myself out there and to ask for help.
But, it’s how I got my first 198 email subscribers!
uplift the people around you
The best way to get more eyes on what you’re making it so uplift other people and their work.
*record scratch*
“Uhm, sorry, I thought this article was supposed to be about how to get more traffic to my work …?”
Yes, yes it is. I’ve given you seven great strategies to get more eyes on your stuff — but I think this last note is the most helpful. And it’s my favorite.
It’s straight-up baller to celebrate someone else’s success or genius. Using your hard-won platform to amplify another’s message takes humility and empathy. (Those are pluses, in my book) But it also shows that you genuinely want to be in service of your audience by introducing them to an individual whom you admire, and who you believe could add value to your readers’ lives.
I also believe in aligning and surrounding yourself with people who inspire you and challenge you to do better. Admiration is powerful fuel. Plus, it’s good karma to help people when you’re in the position to be useful — and you never know how your favor might be repaid in the future.
If that’s “too soft” for you, consider this: From a strategic perspective, your reach expands when your network expands. When you band together with likeminded creators by celebrating them, they’ll likely share your work with their audience — which in turn, gets more eyes on you, and what you do.
It also improves your SEO (search engine optimization) to highlight individuals as experts in their fields. Focusing on SEO can help organically drive traffic to your site because the better your SEO, the higher you’ll pop up on the Google Search engine results page.
conclusion
If you’re starting your own thing, there are so many ways to organically grow your traffic. Start with these eight tips to nail down your unique offering, your authentic perspective, your content strategy, and the value you’re offering your users. After you master these, you can dig into other areas like SEO, paid ads, and more.
What else do you want to know about when it comes to starting and running an intuitive business? Let me know in the comments below!