I first came online in 1996, building sites on free
hosting services and selling things like tele-communications.
I floundered around for a while, makes affiliates
commissions here and there, but no massive success.
I joined a few marketing discussion lists, and one
kind soul on one of those list emailed me and told
me that I appeared fly-by-night. He pointed out to
me that since I was using a “throw-away” email
address, and free hosting, I’d never gain any real
credibility.
He pointed out that I needed my own domain name AND
to use the email address from that domain… or at
least an email with my ISP’s domain name. I
listened, and if you’ll check WillieCrawford.com
in “The Way Back Machine” http://www.archive.org/
You’ll see that it’s been online since 1998.
I went for paid hosting at Hypermart where my domain
name included my name and didn’t have banners as an
intermediate step, but say that that wasn’t going
to cut it… that was before I bought
williecrawford.com
As I studied more and more, I came to understand that
I did need to choose a niche. Having grown up cooking,
I decided to set up a cooking related website, and
posted some of my rustic farm recipes on line. That’s
when things started clicking!
If you check the way back machine, you’ll see that
chitterlings.com has been online since 1999.
I built a list on my cooking site VERY fast. List
members could email in their favorite recipes and/or
request recipes. I’d do some minor editing and
publish a daily newsletter. At the top and bottom
of each issue, I placed a sponsor ad.
At first I was selling that ad space. Then I realized
that I could make a lot more money by just promoting
affiliate products.
List members LOVED getting those daily recipes and I
guess many began to associate those recipes to me.
Soon, my list members began asking if I had a cookbook.
I said “no, but I’ll write one if you really want it.”
They said that they did and I announced that I was
writing a cookbook, and actually took advance orders.
I probably have 75 orders before I wrote the first
word of that cookbook.
I wrote the cookbook in MS Word and printed the
first 300 or so copies on my printer at home. I
went to the local copy shop and had them do some
color covers, since I didn’t have a color printer.
After I’d made enough sales, I had a printer in
Tallahassee, FL print my first volume order. They
still print the cookbook.
During all this time, I was still maintaining my
“internet marketing website” – williecrawford.com
I was also very active on discussion board by this
time too.
As I do today, I shared a lot of what was working
for me. I rapidly became know as a marketing
expert.
I also published an internet marketing newsletter
beginning around 1997… which has continued to
today. That newsletter is where I honed my writing
skills. In many issues I ran articles that I’d just
written. I do that still today.
In late 2002, Dr. Bob Silber noticed that I was
not only one of the successes, but doing well
OUTSIDE the “how to make money” niche. So, he
invited me to speak at his December 2002 seminar
down in the Florida Keys (at Hawks Cay).
I was very honored, but had never attended a seminar
before… or even CONSIDERED attending one. I was
at that time still in the U.S. Air Force, often
working 16-18 hour days, and then running my
online business in my “spare time.”
I attended and spoke at the seminar where notables
like John Reese and Ryan Deiss were in the audience.
THIS is where my career jumped into hyper-drive.
I was somewhat surprised by the fact that the speaker
were all sharing tips and “secrets” with each other
over meals and after-hours. That’s where I learned
the importance of networking and grew to really,
really appreciate the value of attending seminars.
I was impressed enough with Bob’s seminar that I
decided to host my own, so I announced to the world
that I was hosting a seminar in Pensacola, in April
2003.
Bear in mind that April 2003 was only 4 months after
I attended my very first seminar. It was a challenge
putting it all together in my spare time. I didn’t
retire from the USAF until June 2003 
Speakers at my first seminar were:
- Stephen Pierce (his first time speaking at an
internet marketing seminar
- Armand Morin
- Fred Gleeck
- Tony Blake
- Gary Knuckles
- Ramon Williamson
- Dr. Bob Silber
- and me
Notably, John Reese was a paid attendee, who frequently
shared tips during the event… and was often surrounded
by people in the back of the room on breaks.
Even though that first seminar “beat me up” I decided
to host my second one in April 2004. Ken McArthur,
(co-founder of JV Alert) was one of my speakers. This
was the first internet Marketing seminar that he’d
ever spoken at… but he was hooked, and he’s since
hosted countless seminars of his own.
Ok, I’m getting longwinded. My online business went
into hyper-grown in 2002, and that happened BECAUSE I
got out and went to a seminar, and began networking
like crazy with fellow internet marketers. I learned
the importance of joint ventures, and just getting
to know people.
Since 2002, I attended to many seminars to begin to
guess at a number. I SPOKEN at probably 70… in the
US, UK, Malaysia, and Singapore. I attend seminars
now, not so much to learn from the speakers (although
I do always learn something news) as to network and
set up joint ventures for myself and my clients.
I’ve let up considerably on the speaking, preferring
to spend most of my time networking. The next one that
I will teach at is David Perdew’s Niche Affiliate
Marketing System 4, which will be in Atlanta,
Georgia, August 20th – 23rd. NAMS is a literally
a no-pitch, hand-on workshop. Attendees are divided
into different groups, and get training sessions in
different rooms.
The groups are beginner, intermediate, and advanced,
and each group gets presentation and workshops
based upon what they should be doing based upon their
experience level.
I’ve taught at the previous three NAMS and each
time it gets bigger. In fact, NAMS is one of the
few internet marketing live events that continues
to get bigger. Most internet marketing events have
experienced reduce attendance over the past few
years. NAMS continues to grow because of the
quality of the instructors and the fact that attendees
are actually taught something, and actually work on
their businesses right there at the workshop.
Ok, enough about NAMS, except that I hope to see
you in Atlanta, August 20th-23rd. Check it out
now because registrations will close out on May
31st… unless it sells out before then!
Check it out at: http://TIMIC.ORG/NAMS4
If your are serious about building your business, and
networking and setting up joint ventures, check out
NAMS now. It’s a very inexpensive workshop BUT since
you patiently read this very long email, I’m going to
reward you…
When you get to the checkout page, entered this coupon
code: “NAMS4MAY” for a HUGE drop in price.
I look forward to seeing you in August.
Willie
Tags: Armand Morin, Business Growth Secrets, Business Success Secrets, David Perdew, Dr. Bob Silber, Fred Gleeck, Gary Knuckles, Hosting A Seminar, Internet Archives, John Reese, Ken Mcarthur, NAMS Discount, NAMS4, Niche Affiliate Marketing System Workshop, Ramon Williamson, Stephen Pierce, The Way Back Machine, Tony Blake