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What do you see when you hit a Webmaster's board? What are your impressions of the people that you see there? And how do those impressions affect you?

It's pretty easy to see the newbies isn't it? Obviously they're the ones asking all the questions that beginners always ask. And it's easy to telll who are the more experienced ones because they're the one's answering the questions. At least you hope they're the ones with the experience because they're telling newbies what to do to make money.

Sadly, all too often the ones answering all the questions don't have a lot of experience. They're rather good at hiding that though and some people that you will come across on message boards can go on fooling everyone for years. Like many web designers in the real world, they walk the walk and talk the talk but they don't know their ass from their elbow.

Picking those who are successful can be difficult too. Talk and posturing are cheap when it comes to the relative anonymity of message boards and pretending that you successful can bring you lots of status. And we have to remember that for some people who inhabit message boards, status is everything.

To be known as a guru and one who makes lots of money in this industry is the ultimate goal for some ... even if they're really only struggling to make cab fare. But then you wouldn't know that from the way they behave on the boards. Instead they look and sound like they're making a lot of money and that can be very demoralizing for those new ... and not so new ... webmasters who are busting their ass to make enough money to live on.

But I know who many of them are and so does every other content provider out there whether they be writers like me or photographers. We know who they are by the way they act when they're trying to deal with us. These are the guys who quibble over cents, want discounts on lots of one, are only prepared to pay only after we've supplied the work (and then forget to pay) and expect us to work for less per day than what they would. These are the guys who think we're prepared to do what they can't so that they can make money while we struggle.

Yeah these are the guys who would like you to think that they're making money but all they're really making is chump change. These are the guys who really dump on newbies who are struggling, they tell the world about how much money they've been making for so long and yet they're just as broke as what you might be.

And you know what? There are more of them out there on the boards than what you might expect. There is one well-known board in particular that looks like it's inhabited by nothing but major players who are making thousands every day. Actually there are a few people there just like that but 90% of the players are making nothing like what they would have you believe.

These days the real players aren't appearing on many of the boards at all. They have no reason to be hanging out on the boards these days because the business that was once done on the boards has gone from there. The industry has grown up and if you genuinely are a major money maker in this industry why would you want to hang out on boards that are infested with nothing but fleas?

So the next time you're looking around the boards and feeling envious of all the players that are appearing there making a lot of noise and you feel the urge to be like them then take a strong dose of reality and accept the fact that those players are probably worse off than you. If they're hanging on the boards then there not working on their business and if they're not working on their business then they're not making money.

If you're looking at those players and feeling depressed because you aren't making the money that so many of them are then again, take a large dose of reality. Those ‘players' are seeking their glory on the boards and that glory comes cheap - which is fortunate for them because they don't have much spare cash to pay for anything other than their Internet connection. You on the other hand can avoid the board trap and get out there and learn how to make real money and that's where the true glory is.

Just look at those major industry boards and you'll see that anyone can be a board whore, any one can have a huge post count and spend all day every day on the message boards. It's easy and takes very little real intelligence to do those things but unfortunately it doesn't pay much either.

If you want to be like them then go for it, success is easy and failure is almost impossible. But if you want to make real money and be a genuine player then you have to work hard at it and the last place you should be is hanging out on any of the boards trying to build your post count and your status.