Traffic is something that I do not enjoy, especially Atlanta traffic.  It wastes time and gas, and who is interested in wasting either one of these valuable things?  Also, being confined to a vehicle for an hour (standard Atlanta traffic) is time that I could be using on creating products, typing blog posts, shooting photos, etc.  With the time that was presented to me while sitting in traffic one day, I came to realize three business lessons, and I would like to share them with you.

1. Traffic is traffic either way it goes

My interpretation of traffic is numerous vehicles on the road trying to get to their individual destinations at the same time as you are trying to get to yours.  Everyone is headed to a place that they need to be, and though you may cross paths along the way, everyone has a different way to get there.  This is also true for internet traffic.  You should think of your blog or website as the place that people want and need to be.  This means that you have to be generating amazing content or products/services that will "drive" people there.  I believe that the term traffic being used to describe web activity is perfect because it involves people entering, moving around and exiting your site.  Even looking at it as your site being the destination, there were various ways that readers could have arrived there such as through a Google search, Pinterest link, twitter profile, etc., so they may have taken different routes/avenues to get there, but still they arrived.

2. Shortcuts should really be considered alternate routes

There is more than one way to get to your destination.  Everyone has a different route but can still get to the same place.  One person may find that webinars is their secret sauce for generating new clients/customers while another person may find that Instagram is their better source for success.  There is nothing wrong with an alternate route (your way is not the only way), and if we're all making it to the same place in the end (a successful, thriving business/blog), does it really matter how you got there?  As long as no laws were broken in the process, all is good!  But just like any fellow commuter, if you feel that you have found a great alternate route to get somewhere, do share!  People are always ready to hear of ways that others are getting to their destinations, especially if they have had continual success with the route.  Helping people out is always a great thing and helping others that are in business for themselves is good Karma for your business/blog as well :)  So share your tips if you see someone else is struggling and can use a helping hand.  One way that you can do this is by creating a blog discussing your various nuggets of helpful info (wink, wink).

3. Alternate routes/shortcuts don't always work out in your favor

Sometimes when sitting in traffic I'll look at Google Maps to see how long the line ahead is.  Depending on how long it is I may decide to take a different way.  This has worked out well at times and sometimes not so much.  You take a risk when trying to take "shortcuts" because you don't know how they will actually turn out.  Sometimes I try a different way and everyone else had the same idea so we still end up stuck in traffic together.  Sometimes I take another route and find that it saves much more time.  Business-wise, there are certain shortcuts that you can take that will work in your favor (like my beloved shortcut keys) and there are other shortcuts that may not work in your favor (like buying social media followers).  Even for the alternate routes that do work out, keep in mind what people often say, "There are no shortcuts when it comes to business" and "You have to take a lot of time and hard work to be successful in business".  While I agree with this, I also believe that there are ways to use shortcuts that will not negatively have an affect on your goals.  For example, automation is the biggest shortcut that you can take. You know how much I love automation and it works amazingly if you have the right systems setup.  Automation is a way to save mucho time but you still have to put up an initial time investment to get those systems established.  It's kind of like driving somewhere for the first time and it seems to take forever to get there, but the way back feels much faster and seems like it took half the time.

The key points to remember regarding traffic are that your site should be appealing enough and offer enough value that people can't wait to get there, be aware that shortcuts don't really exist as much as alternate routes and there is more than one way to reach success even if you are in the same field as thousands of other people.

Keep those creative juices flowing!