[Pagan]

Over in Greenguy's Link-o-Rama Rejection thread, I had responded to a post from a well-established and fairly long-term webmaster. If you read through the rejection threads here, you will see that this webmaster seems to have a problem with freesite building. My comments to him were NOT a slam on him, or his character, or even his site building abilities. His response to me was quite hostile, though he did immediately apologize for it.

My intent is NOT to start a pissing match here. We ALL make mistakes, even the very best site builder out there. We get distracted or are trying something new and forget to change a bit of code out - it happens to everyone.

Freesite building is NOT for everyone. There are a lot of rules - some seem ridiculously picky and even silly. The rules vary from list to list and you have to be able to read and follow the directions unless you wish to earn rejection letters or blacklisting, or both. When I see a fellow webmaster struggle with even the most basic of required skills (and notice, I am not enumerating them - while they are part of the problem, they are not *THE* issue here)

A lot of struggling webmasters overlook the great tools on this site and a couple of others. I always wish that webmasters who have questions will step up and ask -- either in the newbie thread, via PM, in the chat room (Great tool), or by attending the radio show. I bet a lot of "serious" webmasters don't even subscribe to the newsletter. Like me, this webmaster might have been away from the scene and not aware of all the perks available - do I just shut up or do I mention them.

There are still a number of webmasters who think this is a get-rich-quick industry, and it is far from it. When some struggles as hard as this one has and STILL has very basic problems, you have to ask yourself, do they really have what it takes to be in this industry? While he admits he makes money, his angry response makes me question it.

I suggested a deep soul search. Building freesites is NOT the only way to publicize your paysites. What about galleries? Toplists? Link Exchanges? Blogs? Targeted or Niched Link Lists? Could a webmaster having so much difficulty be spinning his wheels (and wasting time and money plus losing reputation) by trying to focus on building something that is wrong for him?

Mistakes? Oh, yeah... I do make them. I have been building freesites for years and I still make mistakes. I am trying out new techniques or types of sites and I do make mistakes. Just not the same ones over and over again.

My heartfelt advice to ANY and ALL webmasters out there who are struggling -- READ, THINK, ASK for help. Use the tools you have available here. We really don't bite, and our intention is to HELP you improve your product.