Hi Frances,
This can be a very difficult question to answer. There are many methods to market GDI, and what works well for one will not necessarily work well for another.
For instance, for some social media is the best way to spread the word about GDI. Because some people are social people who have a knack at getting a following (not programs that just grab people left and right), and starting conversations. If you watch them on Facebook or Twitter you will see them chatting with people all day long.
For others, though, this can be a real challenge. Yes, you can learn new skills, and there are definitely some tricks to starting conversations. But not everyone has the mindset or the desire to make that happen.
So, saying what's best will not hold true for many people. It's up to you to really decide how you want to market GDI, and then go out and get training on that particular method and put that training into daily action. And you do that by taking a look at what your likes and dislikes are, what your natural passions and strengths are, and go from there.
And there are so many ways to market GDI and a majority of them work quite well, depending on how you understand and use them. A great method will not work at all if you don't know how to properly use it.
So, let's take a look at the few methods you have already mentioned...
Classified AdsClassified ads do work well. However, there are some "tricks" to using classified ads. (And I'm no guru on the subject. I use them and get a great response from them. However, it would benefit you to train yourself further on the topic and to learn copywriting skills.)
Number one, there are a LOT of people using classified ads. So, what happens shortly after you post your ad? It gets buried. Now, many people using classified ad sites do so by using a search feature (which is why your title should always be keyword relevant while at the same time being strong enough to prompt the person to read it), but even using search your ad will get buried relatively quickly.
So, to get any kind of appreciable traffic from classified ads you need to post multiple ads every single day. And it should be done on multiple sites as well. The more the better. In time, as some of your ads expire, you will be able to renew those AND post new ones. Eventually giving you thousands of ads out there working for you.
It generally takes at least a few weeks of doing this before you start getting notices in your email about potential affiliates or customers. My rule of thumb is you need to use a particular method at least 6 months on a daily basis before you can accurately assess whether or not it works.
But that's not all. Nobody goes into classified ad sites looking for information about GDI. In fact, nobody cares about GDI at all. What they do care about is their own problems, their own needs and their own desires. So, when writing a classified ad it's generally never a good idea to write anything about the company at all. You write about what that person wants, and what benefits they will get when they click through to your website or call/email you. One of the most powerful words in the English language is the word
You. Use it often.
The point of the ad is not to sell a person. That is what our affiliate pages are for. The point is to get the person to take action. Again, whether that be to visit your website or contact you personally. Ads should be short, should generate desire and interest, and should have a call to action. That's it. Anything else is wasted space and will cause the person to move on before they even get to the end.
Traffic Exchanges and SafelistsThe first question you should ask yourself always is, who will be seeing my message? Why are they here? What do they want?
So, who uses traffic exchanges and safelists? Affiliates of other programs and/or companies. Are they looking for another company? Absolutely not. They are looking for success. Not another program to leapfrog into only to leave again after a few months.
Knowing why they are there and what they want, you can now use that to your advantage. You now know how you can help THEM, and that will give you an idea of how GDI can be of benefit to them. And then you speak to that need.
You can give them free training on a particular subject, training that they need, and then work GDI into it after they receive a few of your emails and begin gaining trust in you.
For instance, you can give free training on how to build a successful blog. Maybe on the page you are showing you can say something like, tired of clicking all day long with no results? Discover how to coax the search engines into sending you qualified, targeted traffic 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Fill out your name and email and I will send you my free training.
And then you can train them on how to build a blog and how to move it up in the search engines. And during that training you can suggest that GDI is a great place to build a blog because GDI offers a great service and a very simple way to build a blog AND will help them make money by doing so.
You see, our goal is not to get a person to join GDI at first. Our goal is to discover what a person needs, and help them. Or what a person wants, and give it to them. We have to find out why that person will want to join GDI, not why WE want them to join GDI.
And that is the same with every other method out there. Use your creativity for this. Find what works best for you. Take knowledge that you already have and apply it.
This works when talking to people face to face, when talking to small businesses or organizations, when using classified ads or traffic exchanges, when making videos or writing articles. It all boils down to helping people.
GDI chose as their business motto the quote by Zig Ziglar, "
You can have everything you want in life if you just help enough other people get what they want." They didn't choose that motto on a whim.
Well, Frances, I know this isn't what you wanted but I do hope it helped.
Good luck! Keep learning, keep growing and never give up!
Vincent Parker
