Why you need to "drive traffic" to your website or blog

These metal dinosaurs (and other sculptures) are out in the California desert.  I've seen videos of these, but didn't know there were 130 different sculptures.  These are in the Anza-Borrego park area, look up "Borrego Springs metal sculptures," to find directions.  Basically, they're in the middle of nowhere, west of the Salton Sea, and straight east of Carlsbad, California.

Why am I showing you a video of metal dinosaur sculptures out in the Southern California desert?  Because they are a great metaphor for building a website or blog for your business, art, or other projects.  When you build a website of any kind on the internet, it's pretty much in the middle of nowhere, out there in "cyberland," just like these dinosaurs. A random person here or there might come across it, but very few will.  

For over 20 years now, forward looking marketing people have been telling businesses (mostly major corporations) to promote their products and services online.  In the early 2000's, after the Dotcom boom and bust, most traditional businesses had websites built, as did many smaller businesses.  But they didn't put in the time, money, and staff into really learning how the internet, and now smartphones and apps, have changed the game of business.  These forms of communication have dramatically changed people's shopping habits.  So that means your business needs to adapt, if it hasn't already. 

Now, 20-25 years into a practical world wide web, aka "the internet," many major businesses of the Industrial Age are gone, or bankrupt, and most major businesses have some team doing online and social media marketing for them.  But a huge number of small businesses don't use all these "new" tools and platforms to anywhere near their full capacity.  

Having become a serious blogger in 2008 (after writing zines, and for magazines and newsletters since 1985), I've been learning how to operate as a writer today's world.  One of the big lessons I learned is that when you build a blog or a website (or an app), it's pretty much invisible.  It's not like opening a bricks and mortar store next to a busy road, where a lot of people will just stop in and check it out.  For any kind of website (business site, online store, blog, etc), you have to "drive traffic" to the website to get people to check it out.  This is still an often missed concept by lots of small businesses.  

Driving traffic means that you create content of some kind in other places on the web, social media, or phone apps, and you link them to your website.  You also can hand out physical flyers, or post signs in your physical store for people to check out your website.  You go on social media, in all its forms, and write posts, or post photos and videos, and link them to your website.  You find communities of people interested in what you sell, like on Facebook groups, for example, and you let them know about your website.  There are dozens of ways to drive traffic to your website, for free.  These are just the main themes.  You can also pay influencers on social media to mention your website, and send people to it.  You can place ads all over the internet, social media platforms, and phone apps, to get people to start checking out your website.  This is absolutely critical, to get people to see your work, and to sell through your website, online store, blog, whatever.  In time, some people will start telling others about your site, or it may even go viral within a large group.  That's what you want.  You want people to be able to easily find your website, and have it be interesting enough that they tell other people. 

So, in review.  Your website is a lot like these metal dinosaur sculptures out in the desert, when you first build it.  It may be cool, but no one knows it's there.  So you start building paths and roads (links) in the online world, to your website.  Like building a bunch of roads to these dinosaurs, so more people will see them.  That's the idea of "driving traffic."  When you build any website, you have to spend time, daily, if possible, to drive traffic to your website, to be successful at getting views, and making money if it's a business site.  Got it? More thoughts on this, and specific techniques, in future posts on this blog. 

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker movie premiere-

Did mention I was at the premiere of the new Star Wars movie that just happened?  Yeah, I was there... right out in front on of the Kodak Theater, on Hollywood Boulevard, trying to sell art skate decks.  I didn't sell any that night, and the other vendors didn't sell much either.  The whole block of Hollywood and Highland was blocked off, and there was a huge white tent right on Hollywood Blvd. Everyone coming to the premiere entered the tent at the end of the block, and there were bars and things to see, and places to hang out inside it.  All of that was hidden from view from tourists and people walking by. 

I worked at the company that did the lights and red carpeting for most of the movie premieres back in the late 90's, and I worked at a couple of them.  But this Star Wars premiere was HUGE.  They probably spent a million bucks just on that event, it was insane and took over the whole area.  And Hollywood boulevard is a really expensive area to take over. Here's a few pics from that night.

As all the celebrities, and people invited to the premiere, left the big tent, and they had to cross this open area, basically to walk across the sidewalk on Hollywood Boulevard.  The little tented thing above is the tent over the sidewalk, which had to be kept open for tourists and everyday people.  So the guards would block off the sidewalk for a few minutes, and the dignitaries at the premiere would walk through, into another tent leading up to the entrance of the Kodak Theater.  So this is tourists, phones in the air, trying to see and get photos of famous people walking by.  Somebody said Adam Driver walked by about the time I snapped this shot.  Woooo.  Famous people.  Whatever.

Here's my little set up, earlier in the evening, trying to sell my two Harley Quinn fan art skate decks.  I got a lot of interest, several people commented on them, but none were ready to throw down money.  The guys just past me were selling bracelets with names on them.  You can see the big tent, that all the premiere attendees went through, on the left.

 Here's a huge canvas, an original painting of an orangutan getting glammed up, left on the boulevard by the artist.  I saw another canvas by this artist a couple days earlier.  Some guy was standing next to it, so I figured that was the artist.  In my time hanging out and selling (or usually not selling) art on Hollywood blvd., I made friends with several of the "characters."  People, some kids from the hood just trying to make money, and some actors looking to make extra cash, dress up as well known characters, and take photos with tourists for tips.  So I got to know Edward Scissorhands and Freddy Krueger pretty well, along with a few others.  Both thought my artwork was pretty cool. 

Anyhow, the night of the Star Wars premiere, Freddy told me this artist was painting these huge canvases, and just leaving them on Hollywood boulevard for some one to pick up and take home for free.  A little free marketing to promote his work, I guess.  So these huge canvases, like five feet high and twelve feet long, just sat there.  This one, and the one below, Freddy said, had been sitting there for three days.

This painting, of zebras fucking in the rain, was sitting about 30 feet from where the tourists were watching for celebrities.  Obviously, it's hard to miss a twelve foot long painting of zebras fucking, and lots of people were checking it out, it was getting all kinds of reactions.  Later in the evening, maybe 10:00 pm or so, a couple of young women, maybe 19 or 20 years old, were checking this out and taking selfies in front of it.  The two were dolled up, high heels and all, out with their boyfriends for the evening. 

I told them, "Hey, the artist left this here for someone to take home, it's free.  I said that to several people that night, just joking around.  Much to my surprise, the two girls just looked at each other, picked this huge painting up, and walked down the street with it.  They were both maybe 5'2", and the huge painting dwarfed them, and they were in high heels.  But they decided they needed fucking zebras on their living room wall, and just walked off with the painting.  It was pretty funny to watch. 

About ten minutes later, some young guy who panhandles there, asked where the painting went.  For a minute, I thought he was the artist.  I told him that I told some girls it was free, and they walked off with it.  He was pissed.  "Man, I was trying to sell that thing."  What can I say, Hollywood boulevard is a weird place.  It's actually as crazy as Venice Beach these days, I think, maybe crazier.  You never know what you'll see there.

I still haven't seen the new Star Wars movie.  Or the one before that, for that matter.  Maybe I'll get the chance.