"Hello, my name is Johnny (Janie) Marketer and I just received 10,000 copies of my 300+page book that I would like you to sell for me."

"Oh. How many do I have to sell?"

"Well, preferably as many as you can, the more the better. But let me explain a little bit about the book to you first..."

"Okay."

"The book is titled: Making Your Business Work on the Internet and it consists of 303 information packed pages of how-to's, tips, and guru advice from your's truly on how to succeed at marketing any type of business online. The book has 31 chapters and a full biography of myself at the back of the book."

"Can I take a look at one copy to see how it comes across at first glance?"

"Sure. Here ya go."

"Hmmm....it's heavy enough. But, why does the chapter index state that chapter four is about fixing your television using the latest techniques and chapter nine is about finding the best magazines that provide the best movie reviews."

"Oh, um....ah....that's just in there to give people er, ah, a...a well-rounded view of what happens when they aren't doing Internet marketing and their t.v. breaks down while they're searching for a late-night movie."

"Ah...yeah, right. Now, why is every page in Chapter 17 completely blank? Wait....and every chapter after that? What's up with THAT?!"

"Um...ah...you see...ah...I didn't get time to finish the book but I needed to get it published so, ah, um...I figured the reader could fill in the pages... yeah, they could fill in the pages with what they learned in the first 16 chapters! Pretty smart eh?"

"Hmmmm... Okay, what about the back of the book? You said that your biography was on the back of the book and this picture isn't even you. It's a picture of a 'Hugo Blandfish' from Tuktoyaktuk up in northern Canada and the writeup below his picture says that he saves beached whales on Arctic beaches and that he's done this his whole life."

"Well, er....I figured that his life was, ah, more entertaining than mine so I put a writeup about him in there instead. Pretty interesting reading, wouldn't ya say?"

"Ah...yeah, right."

"So, can you help me get known as a quality Internet marketing expert and auspicious author and buy all these books from me to sell to your offline readers and customers?"

"Mmmm...I think I'll pass."

~~~~

Now, is that story too far-fetched from what is really happening online today? I think not.

How many websites do you come across that focus on a potpourri of topics all from the one same website? Truckbed covers, microwaves, Monte Blanc pens, and diapers for adults are all related and can be detailed from one site, can't they? For the average person doing business online, I think not.

How about the websites that are forever project's 'under construction', if at least partially? The site looks pretty darn good but then there's the ubiquitous 'we're still writing this particular page so check back soon' text making one think, well that was a waste of my time to go to that page on their site.

And how about the websites that don't have any indication of who developed the site and go to great extents to have the reader NOT contact them directly. No toll-free number to call. No email address to be found anywhere. How about a physical address to show what continent the owner lives on? Forget it.

I ask you, why put up an off-topic, incomplete site on the world-wide-web and then hide who you are? Doesn't make sense to me.

But this is exactly what many, many people do with their sites. Especially Internet marketing newbies, that is, the people who follow most everything they come across regarding Internet marketing teachings online.

The Internet is one humongous retail store/reference library. If one wants to buy something, somewhere on the Internet it can be found. If one wants to research a particular topic, information most likely exists in multiple websites.

Think about going into a retail store and finding a boys Avatar toy on the shelf yet after opening the box you find a girls Powerpuff Girls action figure inside. This is akin to my off-topic analogy detailed above.

The product needs to match the expectation. The information needs to match the search. One wouldn't go to a library and find a shelf full of books with empty pages on them (unless they're a joke book titled Everything A Woman Needs to Know About A Man and they're filled with empty pages ;-).

Again, this would be akin to my analogy detailed above about the empty chapter pages. Make sure your site has all it's relevant pages finished and that the information is actually useful information that the seeker would actually be able to use.

Do this when doing your Internet marketing and keep this in the front of your mind when building your websites and you'll be sure to give the Search Engines the type(s) of website that they'll love to spider.

And just how can I be so sure of this tactic? Because that is what one of the longterm Internet guru's like Ken Evoy, whom I have followed seriously for years now, has been espousing since the late 1990's.

Sure other Internet marketing guru's have taken different stances to marketing online; however, after following their teachings for a number of years one will find that the vast majority of these teachings sway like trees in a strong wind.

The backbone of the Internet was always the sharing of information. Relevant information that people want to learn about once found. This hasn't changed in over ten years now.

So, keep your website efforts on-topic, focussed, and relevant and you'll do just fine over time. Forget about the 'secrets', the 'tricks', the 'hype', and all those darn $1,487 value free 'bonuses' you might be missing out on.

You see, the need of the Internet is not going away and as long as you provide evergreen information for people seeking out your information you'll still be marketing online ten years from now.

And won't that be good for you.

Written by Andre Best
President, Ultimate Results, Inc.
http://www.andrebest.com
'Learn About Life From Another Perspective'

(Author's permission is granted to share this full article with others. Just leave the signature line intact, please.)