Back in the Spring of 2003, I was at Joel Christopher's
Master List Builder Workshop. Marlon Sanders was up
speaking. We had never formally met, but Marlon had
obviously read some of the things that I'd written on using
pay per click advertising.
Back then, I was heavily into pay per click advertising,
and had even done TWO teleseminars with my friend Marty
Foley on the topic. We called the teleseminars "Master The
Pay Per Clicks." We recorded the teleseminars and sold
those recordings for a long time.
I still use the recordings from those teleseminars a few
places because much of the information is timeless. Marty
and I taught a lot of testing and tracking. What has
changed most since then is primarily the rules and
policies at the pay per clicks... and which search
engines are the most important. We taught solid basics
back then, and they still work.
Anyway, as Marlon was doing his presentation, he spotted me
in the audience, and used what I did as a simple, proven
model of generating a steady flow of traffic to your
website and converting it to sales.
Back then, for every $1 that I invested in pay per click
traffic, I generated $7 in profit. Not a bad return on
investment!
Marlon referred to me as "The King Of Pay Per Clicks" and
asked me a few basic questions. I answered them, and
Marlon proved his points. Actually, one of the points
that I heard Marlon make that day was "Whatever they're
buying, I'm Selling!" The lesson that I learned from Marlon
there was, sell the items that your customers are looking
for rather than what you'd like to sell them.
In that same presentation, Marlon yelled, "Dead Ducks Don't
Quack!" I understood his message there to be, if people
aren't buying a product, then stop wasting your time and
effort trying to sell it to them. People KNOW what they
want.
Just those two statements made that entire weekend worth
the 13-hour drive from Florida to San Antonio. I drove
because I wanted to use the drive time as time to listen to
a course that I had recently purchased. I did listen to the
audio tapes in that course all the way to, and from, San
Antonio... completely absorbing the course in the process.
I absorbed and later applied what Marlon taught during that
fateful presentation. I applied what I learned during that
time spent in "Automobile U" ... the 26 hours driving back
and forth between San Antonio. Both learning experiences
shifted my think in major ways.
Later that year, Ramon Williamson coached me and provided
me with a lot of much needed direction. When I mentioned to
him that Marlon had dubbed me as "The King Of Pay Per
Clicks," he asked if I really wanted to be "pigeon holed"
by that title.
Ramon asked me to clarify what "I" wanted to be known for
on the Internet marketing landscape. Back then, I decided
that I really wanted to be a coach and a mentor. That's
what I still get the greatest joy from doing online.
So, while I did leverage the fact that an "Internet
marketing icon" had dubbed me "The King Of Pay Per Clicks,"
I also took Ramon's advice to heart and distanced myself
from the label.
Today, as back then, I realize that without traffic to your
website, your web business CANNOT be successful. You simply
need visitors to a webpage who, upon arriving, take the
desired action.
Since the need for website traffic is so CRITICAL, back in
2003 I purchased the domain name "Website Traffic PhD." I
had no idea what I was going to do with that domain, but I
KNEW that not having enough website traffic was what
"pained" most webmasters, and that if I could show them how
to get an unlimited stream of website traffic, I had a
product that they would trip over themselves to get.
Marty Foley and I did discuss creating a joint product that
would be an "encyclopedia" of proven methods of generating
website traffic. Perhaps because I still hadn't learned
enough back then, I didn't tackle a job that I didn't feel
totally qualified for.
I did nothing with that domain, and even allowed the name
to expire, but later re-registered it.
Back in December 2002, I first met John Reese at a seminar
at Hawks Cay, down in The Florida Keys. That was at the
same seminar where I first met Ramon Williamson and Marty
Foley. Ramon, Marty and I all gave presentations. As
time progressed, I got to know John better, and he and
Ramon attended the very first seminar that I hosted. Ramon
spoke, and John totally riveted attendees during
conversations held in the back of the room during breaks
(and at meals).
John demonstrated his marketing savvy when in March of
2004, he conducted his sell-out, $4500 per seat, seminar on
website traffic tactics. John leveraged that seminar into
his Traffic Secrets Course, which made him $1 million in
under a DAY!
John validated for me that REALLY studying traffic
generation, and then teaching others how to generate
website traffics was an excellent use of my time.
Between 1996 and today (11 years) I have studied just about
every website traffic generation tactic imaginable. Over
time, I learned which ones worked consistently "for me"
(long-term) and which ones required the least expense and
effort.
Today, after sifting through what must be over 100 possible
traffic generation tactics, I have just a few core tactics
that I use and teach. I even have my "Top 10 Best Free
Traffic Generation Techniques." Those are THE techniques
that worked for me yesterday, and will work for me
tomorrow, without my having to struggle staying up with the
latest search engine tricks.
I'd rather go fishing, or spend time playing with my
grandchild, than spend countless hours chasing after the
latest, usually very short-lived, search engine tricks.
This strategy is so powerful, that on one site that I
recently setup and promoted using my "Top 10 Free Traffic
Generation Techniques" I generated over 1 million visitors
in under 60 days. Needless to say, the site is a success,
and will earn me a nice income stream for a very long time.
I like that model... build a website, plug in free traffic,
make minor adjustments, and let the site make you money :-)
In case you missed why I'm no longer "The King Of Pay Per
Clicks," it's because it takes too much struggle! I prefer
the long-term, very effective traffic generation tactics
that I share with friends at:
When something works, why change it. When something isn't
working, it's insane NOT to change it. Just that simple
observation, properly responded to, will make you an
online success. Now, it's time for you to do it!
----------------------------------------------------
Willie Crawford has been teaching others uncomplicated
methods of building successful online businesses since
1996. Today, he does most of his teaching inside an
exclusive membership site
filled with other experts dedicated to uncovering the truth
about how to succeed online. Join Willie and dozens of
other "old-timers" at:
http://TheInternetMarketingInnerCircle.com
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