I recently got asked an interesting question by a comedian and I thought I’d share my answer with you here. First, here’s the question:

“In your estimation — what’s a good number of visits per day to a comedy website? Or, let me ask it this way — let’s say you were the agent/manager of a comedian who hadn’t quite broken through yet (so not Louis CK, Chris Rock, etc). How many visits per day/per month would you want to see that comedian have to his/her website each day/month?”

Now obviously there’s a ton of different variables that go into answering this question including what your personal goals are, what kind of content you’re posting on your website, and who is actually judging your traffic numbers (for example, an industry person more comfortable with the digital world would likely have different expectations than a industry exec who is clueless about the Internet).

And to be honest, I don’t have a specific number in mind. However, I do have some benchmarks I would consider in assessing a comedian’s website traffic. Here’s what they are…

The More Targeted Your Niche, The Lower Your Traffic Number Can Be To Be Impressive

In order to properly assess the traffic you get to your website, the first thing I’d want to look at is what your niche is (if any) and what the visitors to your website are interested in beyond just you. This is because the more specific your niche (and therefore the more targeted your audience), the more valuable it is to people who want to reach that niche.

On the flipside, the more general your audience, the bigger your traffic number needs to be in order to catch the industry’s eye.

For example, having 10,000 people visit your website who are just general comedy fans isn’t likely to be that impressive because there’s lots of websites out there that reach a lot more general comedy fans.

But having 10,000 people a month visit your website who are like comedy AND yoga (to use a totally random example) suddenly becomes a lot more interesting because that opens up more monetization opportunities both on your site and offline in the form of corporate gigs, a themed tour, merchandise, sponsorship, etc.

When agents and managers assess your career potential, they’re looking for two things: talent and the ability to generate money. It’s easier to generate money in a niche so therefore the amount of traffic you need to catch somebody’s eye is a lot less.

The Number Of People You Influence Is More Important Than The Number That Follow You

Website traffic, just like social media follower counts, can be an incredibly misleading number. Just because a lot of people come to your site, that doesn’t mean those people care enough about you to actually buy tickets to see you perform or support any of your other projects.

For example, I’ve had millions of people visit my personal website because their friends saw a cool video that I posted one day and shared it with them. But are they actually influenced by me to the point that they would care about other things I do? In some cases yes, but in most cases probably not. My traffic is larger than my influence.

If I were an agent or manager, I’d be much more interested in the number of people you can convert into action – purchasing something, sharing something, etc. – than I would in the raw traffic numbers you have to your site. I’ll take the comedian who can get 1,000 people to actually do something over the one that can just get 100,000 people to their website any day.

Where Does Your Traffic Come From?

Another important traffic benchmark is understanding where the traffic to your website comes from. Does most of your traffic come from your email list? Does it come from your readers sharing links to your site with their friends? Does it come from search engines where people are searching for you? Does it come from me linking to you in my Connected Comedy Daily? Does it come from search engines where people are searching for things that you happen to be posting about?

Each of these will tell me something about how “real” your audience is and how potentially valuable they are. All traffic is not created equal.

In addition to where your traffic comes from, I’d also want to know where your traffic lives. Do most of the visitors to your website live in your hometown? Do they live in the US? Are they global? And how does that mesh with your goals for your comedy career and whatever my plan would be to help you get there as your agent/manager?

If You’re Not Growing, You’re Dying

Finally, I’d want to see how the traffic to your website is trending. Lots of people have big traffic swells for various reasons so a single month’s traffic can be misleading. I’d hope to see consistent growth over a long period of time – at least six months probably.

If I’m going to invest in your career in part because of what you’ve done attracting website traffic, then I’d want to get a sense of what I could expect as far as continued growth. And I’d also want to see that when you do get traffic spikes, that those numbers are converting – into email subscribers, ticket buyers, return visitors, and true fans.

Fine, I’ll Just Give You A Number Because That’s What You Really Want

Ok, now that I’ve given you a million things to think about while dodging the main point of your question, I’ll give in and give you an actual number.

100,000 visitors in a year.

If I had to say what an impressive number of visitors to your website would be, I think that would be the starting point.

But there’s a catch!

I’m going to say 100,000 based on the expectation that those are unique visitors and that you’ve managed to convert 10% of them into email subscribers! Because if you don’t have a way to connect to those visitors, their visits are meaningless.

So, what I’m really saying is that if you have used your website to build a 10,000 person email list – then I think an agent/manager would be a fool not to at least meet with you.

PS:  Here’s my advice for how to grow your mailing list and here’s some suggestions of what key stats you should know about your website traffic.

I recently finished reading a very interesting book called Rework, which essentially outlines an anti-business approach to succeeding in business and being productive.

While it’s not a comedy book, the book’s lessons are applicable to anything you may want to accomplish in your life and there were several revelations that I think are extremely relevant to comedians. I recommend you read the full book, but in case you don’t have the time for that here’s four lessons you’d learn that will help you in your comedy career.

1. Success Breeds Success

The book shoots holes in the popular theory that failure is an important step on the path to success. Here’s an excerpt:

“Failure is not a prerequisite for success. A Harvard Business School study found already successful entrepreneurs are far more likely to succeed again (the success rate for their future companies is 34 percent). But entrepreneurs whose companies failed the first time had almost the same follow-on success rate as people starting a company for the first time: just 23 percent.

People who failed before have the same amount of success as people who have never tried at all. Success is the experience that actually counts.”

Obviously, most comedians face their share of failure along the way. But what I think you can take from this is the value of finding ways to also incorporate small successes into your career along the way. Don’t just pursue long shot dreams that have a high likelihood of failure – instead focus on smaller, achievable goals that you can ultimately string together to get to where you want to go.

Success breeds success, so it’s important to find things you can succeed at in order to build momentum.

2. You Shouldn’t Be For Everyone

The book reinforced a theme I’ve often preached on this site before – you should never worry about pleasing everybody and whatever you do should alienate almost as many people as it appeals to. As the book explains…

“A strong stand is how you attract superfans. They point to you and defend you. And they spread the word further, wider, and more passionately than any advertising could.

Strong opinions aren’t free. You’ll turn some people off. They’ll accuse you of being arrogant and aloof. That’s life.

For everyone who loves you, there will be others who hate you. If no one’s upset by what you’re saying, you’re probably not pushing hard enough. (And you’re probably boring, too.)”

What’s amazing about that excerpt is keep in mind that the book is primarily written for entrepreneurs and businesses – things that you would typically expect to be more conservative than comedians. But the premise rings even more true in comedy -you better have a strong point of view and you better not worry about trying to appeal to everybody if you want to attract a devoted fanbase.

3. Give Your Audience A Reason To Come To You

When it comes to marketing yourself, Rework emphasizes the importance of reversing the process so that you can draw an audience to yourself without having to go out and find them every time you need them.

“A lot of businesses still spend big bucks to reach people. Every time they want to say something, they dip into their budgets, pull out a huge wad of cash, and place some ads. But this approach is both expensive and unreliable. As they say, you waste half your ad budget – you just don’t know which half.

Today’s smartest companies know better. Instead of going out to reach people, you want people to come to you. An audience returns often – on its own – to see what you have to say. This is the most receptive group of customers and potential customers you’ll ever have.

When you build an audience, you don’t have to buy people’s attention – they give it to you. This is a huge advantage.

So build an audience. Speak, write, blog, tweet, make videos – whatever. Share information that’s valuable and you’ll slowly but surely build a loyal audience. Then when you need to get the word out, the right people will already be listening.”

I talk a lot about the importance of comedians creating content on a regular basis and this passage really reflects the reasons why. Your content IS your marketing.

4. Be Transparent

Just like too many businesses are secretive and deceptive, too many comedians try to pretend they’re more established, successful, or edgy than they actually are. The book points out that it’s much more effective to let people see what you’re really about – doing that will greatly increase the chances that they connect with you and care about what you do.

“Letting people behind the curtain changes your relationship with them. They’ll feel a bond with you and see you as human beings instead of a faceless company. They’ll see the sweat and effort that goes into what you sell. They’ll develop a deeper level of understanding and appreciation for what you do.

There’s nothing wrong with sounding your own size. Being honest about who you are is smart business, too. Language is often your first impression – why start it off with a lie? Don’t be afraid to be you.

That applies to the language you use everywhere – in email, packaging, interviews, blog posts, presentations, etc. Talk to customers the way you would to friends.”

People want to connect with other people and the more you are willing to be real – on and off the stage – the more likely you are to be embraced.

These lessons are really the tip of the iceberg of what you can learn from Rework. Again, I highly recommend checking it out – it’s a quick read and I think you’ll find it pretty helpful.

Have you noticed how many comedians are trying to sell albums lately? It seems like most comedians go straight from their fifth open mic performance to uploading to the iTunes store.

But it’s not just newbies rushing to sell albums. Even more established comics are rushing to put out their own albums and try to make a quick buck or two.

I respect the hustle, but I think in most cases you’d be MUCH better off giving away your album for free than selling it. Here’s five reasons why…

1. You Won’t Make As Much Money As You Think You Will

I know there’s not a whole lot of money in comedy before you’ve made it big and I get that any and all revenue streams are needed for most comedians. However, you’re probably not going to make nearly as much money as you think you are from your album – even if you have a decent fanbase.

On average, a targeted audience (such as your existing fans) will only convert to purchasers at a rate of 2%. That means if you have 1,000 fans (and I mean true fans, not just people who happened to follow you on Twitter), it’s likely that only 20 of them will actually purchase your album. And that’s only if you can get all 1,000 of them to know you are even selling an album – which is harder than it may seem and nearly impossible without an effective email list and marketing machine to reach them.

So even if you were making a $10 profit on every album sold (which you’re probably not after expenses), you’d only stand to make about $200 on a fanbase of 1,000 people. That’s not exactly the world’s greatest business plan.

2. There Are Things You Need More Than Money Right Now

Just because I don’t think you should sell your album, doesn’t mean that I don’t think you should get something in exchange for your hard work. I just think there’s things you can ask for that are more valuable to you and less costly to your fans. For example, sell your album for an email address.

Instead of charging for your album, offer it as a free download to anybody that joins your email list. This means that not only will your album wind up in the hands of more people, but you’ll also wind up with a way to connect to the people who have your album.

Somebody who buys your album for $10 may give you their cash, but it’s possible they’ll never give you any more money or never even know about when you come to perform in their town. But giving somebody a free copy of your album (which they’ll hopefully enjoy) in exchange for a way to connect with them about your future products is a way to ensure that you’ll ultimately make a lot more than just $10 from them.

3. Don’t Sell Things That People Can Get For Free

Speaking of bad business plans, the best way to create a valuable product is to offer something that people can’t get anywhere else and – fair or not – an album doesn’t really fit that description. I’m not defending it, but the reality is that if there is lots of interest in your album then there’s also likely lots of places online where people can illegally download it and get it for free.

The best way to combat piracy as an artist is to offer products that can’t be pirated. Instead of selling easily pirated things like albums, why not charge people for more unique things – limited edition merchandise, live shows, and other experiences that can’t be easily ripped off. You may not be able to prevent the Internet from stealing your album, but you certainly can choose to sell things that can’t be ripped off – and you should.

4. Giving Away Your Album Enables Your Fans To Do Your Marketing For You

If you give away your album away for free, your existing fans are much more likely to download it and more importantly they’re more likely to tell their friends to download it. A free album is a fantastic tool to use to enable your fans to spread the word about you and introduce you to new potential fans.

Think about it – in one scenario you sell your album and essentially ask your fans to support you by giving you their cash and then you’re asking on top of that for them to tell their friends about you. But if you give away your album for free to your fans, suddenly you’re thanking them with a cool freebie and asking that in return they tell their friends about it – something they’ll be much more likely to do.

A free album is one of the best ways to attract new fans and grow your audience. And then what will happen next is…

5. You’ll Make More Money By Giving It Away For Free

I know it seems crazy, but it’s possible that you’ll ultimately make more money by giving your album away for free than you will by charging for it. That’s because giving it away for free ensures that more people listen to it, more people share it, and more people are likely to pay to come see you perform, buy your merchandise, or become long term (paying) fans of what you do.

The reality is that if you charge for your album, you pretty much know what’s going to happen – about 2% of your true fans will purchase it. But if you give it away for free? Anything’s possible.

For example, watch this video to see what happened when author Seth Godin decided to give his book away for free a few years ago…