So what's new these days?

After what appeared to me to be heavy saturation from MLM writers of thinkly disguised advertisements, I'm seeing more quality, and also more new names entering field all time. As competition increases, quality will matter more. Hopefully you were there to begin with. If not, better sharpen your pencil.

We quickly learn who produces good material, and I'm sure it's same way for website and ezine publishers.

Photos requests are starting to happen. Lately when one of my articles has been accepted, webmaster has asked me for a photo, so now I include on list-serve submissions under my URL and Mailto:, "Photo available here: http://www.myphoto.com/yo.jpg." You might want to to give it a try. As one syndicator wrote me, "so reader can see you and imagine having a relationship with you."

Once you're established, consider not requiring courtesy copy. It could slow down a busy editor just enough to pass up your article for someone else's.

Myth #4: Build an opt-in mailing list and become rich

For years, we have heard web marketing gurus tell us that we just have to publish a free ezine or newsletter, collect our visitors' emails and laugh all way to bank. This probably originated years ago, when web advertising was all rage, and all we needed to do to sell ad space was to get a few thousand subscribers. Nowadays, even sites with hundreds of thousands of visitors can't rely on advertising revenue for survival. Most ezines nowadays don't even reach 1,000 subscribers, and most of them won't be interested in your offers. It won't take long for you to realize that to sell something to your subscribers, first you have to establish an almost personal relationship with them. They will have to know you very well, and feel very comfortable with you before they will be ready to purchase anything. You will need to post your picture on your website, give lots of testimonials, get positive press coverage from important media outlets, have a physical address (not just an email address), and, if possible, conduct seminars so that your subscribers can get to know you in person. Again, a lot of hard and time-consuming work, but if you want big payoff there is no other way.

Myth #5: Give things away and they will buy

Most people that look for freebies, and receive freebies, will always expect freebies. It is extremely hard to turn freeloaders into paying customers, especially on web, where almost everything is free. Instead of putting a lot of emphasis on your free gifts, use your web space to explain very, very well your product or service. Try to anticipate all your customer's needs, answer all their questions, point out all your benefits, and, after that, include a short contact form so that interested parties can contact you. The time you spend following up with those prospects will give you much better results than if you just rely on showering a large pool of unqualified prospects with free gifts and see what trickles down.

Bottom line, nothing worthwhile in life is easy, and marketing on web is not different. Uncover myths, filter out hype, plan well, invest time and work hard, and you'll have a better chance of getting results and being successful.