Generating traffic to your website is the eternal quest of the on-line marketer. And there are as many theories as there are marketers. Some people push new content, some advocate high search engine rankings, many use pay-per-click, and some even recommend writing articles! But these methods are seeking traffic from the mass audience, like broadcasting your advertising on a TV channel. But there are two methods that send your advertising to self-selected audiences: forums and safelists.

Forums are groups of people who are gathered around a specific topic. There are forums for non-custodial fathers, marital arts like karate or MMA, religious sects, and hobbies. The overwhelming majority of people who join these forums do so to be able to discuss the topics and get new ideas and maybe meet people. Some forums are monitored by leaders who have the authority to delete non-conforming messages, or even kick people out. Some forums are not monitored at all, and generally degrade into either a free-for-all or drift slowly into an apathetic death. So an active, focused forum is where you want to advertise. However, your product or service MUST be related to the topic (or the members will tag you a "spammer" and ignore you or kick you out).

Also, you cannot simply post ads. The most effective method is to participate in the forum, and place a one-line advertisement with a link in your signature. The key is to make relative, informative, and cogent postings to the forum, so that other members recognize that you have some expertise in the area, which may inspire them to click on your link. Thus traffic is born.

Safelists, on the other hand, are lists of members who agree to accept email advertising from the other members of the list. In this way, the members avoid getting spam (unsolicited email containing advertising), while at the same time, getting email containing advertising. These lists generally are not focused on any topic, but have members who want to read your advertising, especially if it is related to on-line marketing or business. The key here is to have a headline or subject line on the email that you send to the list, to inspire the members to open your email. A sales letter that hits the emotional hot-buttons is vital to getting the safelist member to click to your website. Also, giving something away for free gets visitors to your website.

So which one is better? Forums generally will drive fewer visitors (because you will only get a percentage of the people who read and are interested in your signature, not your entire posting), and it takes time to develop that "expert" reputation. Safelists may get you more traffic, but it usually is in the form of "window shoppers" rather than serious buyers, because the email is designed to pique their curiosity, not necessarily their interest.

My experience is that if you have a highly focused product, like a resource for non-custodial fathers, your website will get visitors who are more motivated to purchase from forums. On the other hand, if your product is of general application, or related to internet marketing, safelists will produce more traffic, which you can capture (to build a list), but not necessarily more sales.

The solution, obviously, is to use both. But make sure you spend your time in the arena that's going to return the traffic you want. You can have 500 visitors and 50 sales or 10,000 visitors and 5 sales. I've had both. I'll take the sales. So will you.