Steady Growth Versus Spikes

Those big traffic days are very satisfying. When you hit the front page of Digg, get a snowball effect of Stumble traffic, or when several big blogs notice you and throw you a link.

More and more though I am hearing from bloggers who are chasing these spikes at the expense of their long term success.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying promotion or traffic building are bad. What I see is bloggers going after traffic in ways that harm their blog and put off their currently loyal readers.

• “Attitude”, rants and snark
• Bashing or sniping to make their own blog look better in contrast
• Bait and switch

It is even more galling when you see these tactics being used just to pimp an affiliate link or two.

What good is it to you if you achieve your traffic goal or sales target, only to find that people are less trusting of you, think you are selfish, or a backstabber? Credibility takes long, hard work to build but a moment to lose.

See Also

Increase Your Chances of Growth by Using Your Time Management to the Fullest

Traffic is good, publicity is good, but how you acquire it and how you follow-up count just as much.

1. Whatever you do, say, write, or how you behave, all have an impact on your brand and reputation. You might not care what people think about you, and that is fine, but just remember what people think about you will have a large and lasting impact.
2. It’s not just traffic today that counts, but what you do with that traffic, how you satisfy those new readers, and where you go next.

As I often advise my blog consulting clients, taking your clothes off and running down the street will get you attention, but so what? Better to get attention from the right people, in the right way, with the right plan :)