An article by Derek Wood

Did you ever think that when you became an internet marketer that you would have to decide on a daily basis whether or not to actively break the rules? In fact, when you started your marketing career, did you even know that there was a set of rules? Probably not.

I know that when I first started the terms "black hat" and "white hat" were new to me. Sure it only took a moment or two to understand what they meant. But how was I to know which techniques were considered bad, and which were ok to use?

After all, no one told me "do techniques 1, b, c, 5, f and 9" but don't do all those other ones, even though they work better in some cases. How is anyone supposed to know? Is there a list somewhere? Who maintains an active list of all possible techniques and marketing tack tics that are potentially questionable?

Many marketers are looking to make money online, and the majority or people are struggling at best. If you are new to the arena then you might be broke for a bit. The main reason is because you might ry technique after technique looking for one that is both white hat and works extremely well from the get go.

If you are asking yourself why not use black hat tactics then unfortunately the answer is because you were told not to. Heck, while you're at it don't take a cookie from the cookie jar. You might ruin your dinner. Someone told you not to do something, and your supposed to play by their rules.

No, I am not advocating the use of black hat tactics, but I am a realist, and I understand human behavior. We often are much more readily willing to do that which we are not supposed to do, especially if it is rewarding to us. Like the cookie in the jar, many black hat techniques are very rewarding, or in many cases quite lucrative.

Bear in mind however, that this can come with a price. For those of you who have taken the cookies from the jar, you are familiar with the price associated with misbehaving. You might have gotten a slap on the wrist, a belt on your backside, maybe no dinner that night.

The search engines are no different. They monitor the cookie jar, and are waiting to see who tries to grab a snack. If you are going to use black hat techniques, then you should learn what can or might happen in the event you are caught. You see, not all black arts are considered equal. If you take one cookie, that is not nearly as bad as breaking the jar open and getting them all.

Some search engines may not notice some issues, or may simply notify you of potential issues, while others may simply pull your sites out of their database. You will want to know what the penalty is, how severe it will be, and what you can do to prevent or at least minimize it.

Making the choice to use questionable practices can leave you without a site to work with. You may use whatever tactics you wish to use. But if you are doing what they consider to be bad, and catch you, then you will likely be punished. Choose carefully how you proceed with your career in internet marketing.

Derek Wood is an avid internet marketer and a successful online and offline business owner. He has been actively building his internet-based businesses, including web-hosting, retail stores, online publishing, and online marketing for more then 20 years.

Get more information online by visiting his website Real-Internet-Success.com, http://www.Real-Internet-Success.com

Start your own e-book business with BeginnerEbookPublishing at: http://www.BeginnerEbookPublishing.com

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