Notice I said 'simple concept' not 'simple process'. It is a lot of work to find sites that have a similar audience as yours, then search their site to see if they even offer free links to other sites, and then find contact information to ask them to link to you.

Here are top 5 excuses I have heard for not getting linked:

1. It takes way too much time 2. For every five I ask, I'm lucky if one actually links me 3. The sites that link to me always seem to have low traffic 4. I never get more than a few visitors a day from these links 5. I hate having to give a reciprocal link

My responses to these excuses:

1. Spend 30 minutes a day and find as many places as you can. If you stay with it you will be amazed at how much you will have accomplished after a couple of months.

Some days you may only find one or two sites, but on others you will get lucky and find a place with dozens of resources listed. You can then just visit each of those and wipe out a large number at one time.

2. It is definitely a numbers game but if you don't ask you will never know if they would have linked to you or not. There are also many factors that can better your chances of getting a return link. I will go into more detail below.

3. Many times this will be case because sites with tremendous traffic usually want you to advertise with them or have equal traffic counts for a reciprocal linking arrangement.

Several points to keep in mind, though. First, some of these sites may not stay small forever, and as their traffic grows you will hopefully start to see more visits from them. The other thing to keep in mind is that if you stick with this you will end up with a couple hundred links in no time. If each site sends you only one visitor per day that is an additional couple hundred visitors that you didn't have before. And its free!

4. The answer here is basically same as last. Another benefit of these links is boosting your link popularity for search engine ranking.

5. Create a links page with links to other useful sites. Place your reciprocal links on that page. Don't bury links page but offer it as just one more valuable piece of content for your visitors.

Some larger sites require a graphic or link on your main page to consider your request. I typically skip these and go to next site, unless their link adds value to what I'm offering on my main page and if there is a good chance I'll get a great deal of additional traffic from them. You can try it out for awhile and if you aren't comfortable with arrangement, just remove graphic and let them know that they can re- move your link from their site. At least you have given it a try.

To look at it another way, if you sell advertising on your site you are sending away some of your visitors in exchange for money.

You can harness this massive and powerful demand for free information. Use it to build your base of customers and prospects. Use your ability to provide free information to build image, customer confidence, brand recognition, and sales.

Get and use your own email course. This is an all-time favorite with Internet users. Courses can be nothing more than a few successive email messages that give readers information on a particular topic.

Most courses are seven messages long, although some are as short as three messages and many have ten or more. Use a multiple autoresponder to send your messages automatically. I find it is best to have a lesson arrive every day or every other day.

If your messages show up every other day, you keep your name and information in front of customers for a full two weeks. That gives prospects time they need to carefully consider your offer and decide to buy. You makes sales in many cases where customers would have forgotten your name, your site, and your offer.

If you don't have a newsletter, offer an email course to keep your information in front of people until it has time to make an impact.

Your email course makes an excellent free bonus for people who subscribe to your newsletter or request your sales information. When page comes up that says "thanks for subscribing," include a box where people can type their email address to get your free course.