Erik Stafford's Marketing Blog

One of the first things I always try to impress upon people the importance of building a great “swipe” file.

So what’s a “swipe” file? Well it’s exactly what it sounds like: a collection of great stuff that you’ve collected, studied, and can access whenever you need a little extra inspiration. Not to copy or steal… but to browse for ideas to get your brain moving.

When I worked in the world of traditional advertising, my swipe file was a physical folder filled with advertisements ripped out of various publications.

For Internet Marketers (who work primarily on the computer) a swipe file will typically include:

• A bookshelf filled with marketing books;
• A document filled with headlines, bullets and other copy;
• A bunch of emails from various lists that you have subscribed to;
• A folder full of bookmarks for websites that blow you away;
• A folder on your computer filled with great E-Books;
• A collection of graphics that you like (Borders, Backgrounds, Buttons, etc. etc.);

A great swipe file can take years to build, and can cost a considerable amount of money… but it is absolutely necessary.

Well my friend Harris Fellman is having a moving sale right now, and is “cleaning house”. What’s that mean to you? It means that you have the rare chance to get a great product… and also really “bulk out” your swipe file for next to nothing.

Check it out:
http://www.thefasterwebmaster.com/fwm-movingsale

His package is stuffed full of amazing information on traffic, copywriting, list building, and much more.

Unfortunately I missed this when it was first released to the public, because I was so focused on The Faster Webmaster… but good news! Harris has agreed to offer this amazing package to The Faster Webmasters for just $38 bucks. Just use the code “erik38″ when ordering.

To your success,

Erik Stafford
http://www.thefasterwebmaster.com

Erik Stafford here. Many of you have emailed me asking if The Faster Webmaster will teach writing skills: how to say what you need to say to get people interested in joining your list or buying your products.

The answer is, unfortunately, NO.

The goal of The Faster Webmaster is to cover the “technical” basics of getting a simple website online, for people with little experience. Now the good news:

I did some research on Copywriting for you, and I found an excellent and amazingly affordable product that will show you how to write content for your pages that will suck people into your message… and keep them there.

Here is the information you need:

The “High Response Sales Letters” Copywriting Course
http://www.thefasterwebmaster.com/copywriting
====================================================
This amazing report will show you how to write high response sales letters in just 25 minutes… even if you’ve never written one before. The best thing about this course: it’s packed with means and methods to touch your readers… not in a cheap or cheesy (or unethical) way, but through the use of several triggers that you can use to create a strong bond with your audience.

I urge those of you who are serious about internet marketing to pick up this document and make it part of your “go to” library or resources.

It’s only $7 bucks… which is less than you will probably spend on lunch today. Basically, it will cost you less than a tank of gas… and will last you much, much longer!

To your success,

Erik Stafford
http://www.thefasterwebmaster.com

Okay… so it’s Erik Stafford here, and this is my first blog post. Well… I suppose this blog is going to be all about me, my business, Internet Marketing, and all that stuff… but where do I begin?

Well, I suppose I may as well start with whatever is on my mind, and tonight, as I sit here at my local dive with a Vodka Martini and my laptop, the thing that is on my mind is driving traffic.

Growing my business. Exposing my products to as many people as possible.

There are probably three thousand ways to drive traffic to your website. Obviously, Joint Ventures are great (Working with someone who has a list of prospects, and is willing to promote your product in exchange for a percentage)… but you are not going to get those without a product. Without a product you would have better luck trying to get a drop of water out of a rock, and even with a product it can be very hard to convince people to promote you.

I am running into this problem with The Faster Webmaster right now: my numbers are good, the feedback on my product has been amazing… but people are busy, and they tend to want to work with people they have already worked with in the past before they will work with you. That’s the bottom line. Successful Internet Marketers are a small, tight-knit group. If I didn’t have a few very solid connections when I walked into this business I wouldn’t be where I am at.

But there are other ways… from pay-per click, search engines and blog posts, to forums, MySpace, eBay, and article writing. Do these methods work?

Yes, they do… if done the right way.

Do they take time? Absolutely.

I suppose my advice to beginners would be:

• Get a website up an running. The bottom line is that people are much more likely to take me seriously if my email address is erik.stafford@thefasterwebmaster.com… instead of erik_coolman12-1345@yahoo.com.
• If you are just getting started, and you have a product, focus on setting up Joint Ventures with people. Don’t send emails: write letters instead, or use the telephone. Do a little bit of research so that you stand out.
• If you don’t have a product you should probably focus on blogs, forums, and articles. Make sure that the posts/articles are intelligent, and offer something… and point people through your website at the end of the post or article. Drive people to your website and force them to opt-in to receive information (tips, tricks, whatever) and then market to them on the backend in the followup emails.
• Above all: be patient! It is going to take time, period. You need 500 people on your list to get roughly 100 of them to open, read, and click-through to whatever offer you are promoting. Of that 100, a typical sales rate is 3%… which means that if you promote a $50 dollar product to list of 500 people you can expect to make $75 dollars or so (1/2 of the total sales). It takes time.

To your success,

Erik Stafford
http://www.thefasterwebmaster.com