Out of Egypt:

word to the wise

The real power of the Internet is not how it serves as a rapid transit system for memes, urban legends, and other assorted forms of hype that people Digg, EPIC 2015-style.

Rather, it is the power to promote relationship - that through the Internet people can connect with other trustworthy people in their field, regardless of distance. And, once trust has been established, those people can charge for their services.

Don't rely on search engines and Adsense to make money. Search engines are useful, but only insofar as they enable people to find you. Once they find you, acting as a "human search engine" will be vastly more profitable than simply churning out free ad-supported content could be.

The Web is a great advance in communication. But it hasn't changed the rules of the game, only sped up the play. People will still pay for quality. Search just makes it easier for individuals to promote themselves - if they are actually talented and willing to put in the hard work.

To hear more, check out Brian Clark's free report, Teaching Sells. It pretty much crystallizes a lot of the thoughts I've been having lately about the future of publishing.

A lot of what the report says may seem obvious. But that doesn't make it less helpful. As Dale Carnegie said, "The obvious is what people need to be told." (Thanks Mr. Howard for the quote.)