I am reasonably certain that anyone reading this article is familiar with all the free online advertising methods such as the all-too familiar Sp-m emails, Classified Ads, FFA pages, Banners, Text Ads, Traffic Exchanges, Newsletters, Guaranteed Visitors, Paid to Read, Paid to Join, Link Swaps, Pop-ups, as well as many other types of 'In-Your-Face' advertising, some of which may have been dreamed up since this article was written. What I would like you to consider is this: What do you think when you see this kind of stuff yourself? More to the point, what is your 'Frame of Mind' at that moment? My guess is you think, "Here we go again..." and your shields go up. You pull up your waders and trudge on through, oblivious to the thousands of messages ricocheting off your armor as you collect a few more hits for your own website promotion or product offer. With Millions of would be online Millionaires doing this hour after hour and day after day, is it any wonder that the Internet slows down to a crawl and even stops at times? Now consider the "Frame of Mind" of a visitor that came looking for you to see what you are doing. Maybe even to ask a few questions and give you permission to email them. Does this sound like a more productive environment? The online equivalent to this scene is being played out today and every day and you can participate for free. It is called 'Social Networking' and more information on this is easily found with your favorite search engine. Imagine if you are no longer perceived as another 'Salesman' but as a "Fellow Business Person" with similar problems and often good ideas for their solutions. Much like Napoleon Hill wrote about in his world renown-book, "Think and Grow Rich", you could be a team member of a virtual Mastermind Group. Chamber of Commerce Mixers have been an example of this approach for years and have been very successful for some who get it. Now you can accomplish nearly the same thing for your home business from your own computer. Keep in mind, this should not be just another place to plaster your links. The strongest relationships are formed by giving first. Do a mental inventory and come up with something you know or have that would help others more than yourself. Find a way to offer it with no strings attached, no signup or email address required, just give it freely. I know it sounds crazy in this dog-eat-dog world, but trust me it works. Alright, now it is all up to you. Continue contributing to the degradation of Internet bandwidth with the huge numbers of attempts required (many not even reaching their target) to get a single response, or try something that builds future relationships with new friends that are truly interested in what you are doing and not just trying to sell you something.
