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When you first come into this industry everyone needs the help they will find in the newbie sections of the leading Webmaster boards. Even if you have come from a background in marketing you will find that this industry is so different that you will still need help.

Sure, the principles of marketing are the same whichever side of the fence you're working but there are variables here that you will never see over in mainstream. So the help you can find on our industry's webmaster boards is invaluable.

But whether you have that background in marketing or you have no background in selling anything at all sooner or later you simply have to outgrow those newbie boards.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't mean outgrow them and leave them. Even after you have begun to make sales and a comfortable living from this industry there is much to be gained by remaining in touch with those boards. However, there comes a point where, if you want to continue to grow, you have to step out on your own and do your own thing away from those message boards.

As one mainstream webmaster put it recently, 'I've given up minding the mindless' and I'm sure that there are many of us who can relate to that statement. Dealing with newbies is one thing but constantly having to deal with people who have been around for a while and either don't want to learn or seem incapable of learning can become counter-productive very quickly.

After a few months you should be looking beyond the concepts that newbies are learning but if you stayed glued to a newbie board your vision of what is beyond the newbie stage can be very restricted. So be prepared to think beyond the newbie concepts. Be prepared to spend a little time experimenting, testing and evaluating on your own.

Be prepared to buy some cheap domains to experiment with. Be prepared to buy some cheap hosting away from your main hosting and don't link to them from anything you don't want to lose. And be prepared to dabble in some of the 'black' arts of search engine optimization and marketing.

Push the limits; see what will get you banned and what will get you listed briefly for some great terms. Experiment with new scripts to see if they will help you make sales and be happy when you find that some of those cheap domains really do get tossed out of Google.

Why be happy? Because if you really are experimenting, testing and evaluating then when Google gives you the boot you will have some real information of your own to use in conjunction with those sites and domains that you really don't want to lose.

And don't be horrified that I'm suggesting you try some of those 'black' arts. I'll let you in on a little secret, many of the major webmasters in mainstream and adult who talk about the right way of doing things put their black hats on when no one is watching and go off to play with disposable domains too.

Sure they experiment, test and evaluate in the 'white' areas but they're also learning by doing the wrong thing too. And those leaders in both sides of the industry aren't hanging around with newbies all the time either. Instead they're out there doing their own thing and not letting the conservative atmosphere of most newbie boards hold them back.

And that's what you need to do if you really do want to succeed. By all means, make your start on a newbie board and learn the basics. Hang around and put something back into the newbie boards as you become more experienced but also be prepared to step out on your own.

Forget the reliance on others, be bold, be adventurous and push the envelope as hard as you can. That's the way that you can learn things that you would never learn if you stayed glued to a newbie board. And it's those lessons that you learn when you do push the limits that will help you get ahead of everyone else.

Finally, when you do learn valuable lessons from your testing and evaluation remember to keep your own counsel. Don't rush back to the newbie boards to share your hard-won information.

If you do you will get very little thanks for it, you will find some people who just don't understand what you're talking about. You will find a lot of people who want to tell you that you're wrong (the mindless ones I referred to earlier) and you will get a few who listen and suddenly are competing head-to head with you.

You will have started off with a competitive advantage and lost it for nothing.