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There's no doubt that the industry webmaster boards are vital for any newbie who ventures into this business. Those boards can be an invaluable source of information, support and encouragement.

If you're a newbie and you're not hanging out on a webmaster board ... and even beginning to join in the conversation ... then you're almost guaranteed to be heading for failure. Of course lots of newbies come into this industry thinking that they know exactly what it takes to make money here and they don't need to get involved with others on the boards but the reality usually is that you just don't have a clue.

You may think that you know how to market a product ... you may think that you know all there is to know about building a website ... you may even think that you know all there is to ranking at the top of the heap in Google ... but you don't.

Spend just a week on an industry webmaster board ... follow the conversations and listen to the advice that's being given out ... and you will soon see that everything you thought you knew isn't going to get you very far at all.

So webmaster boards are going to be vital for any newbie who wants to survive in this industry but adult webmaster boards can be dangerous places and there are a lot of traps newbies can fall into.

Newbies can take advice from people who are as clueless as they are. Newbies can get tangled up with some of the trolls and con artists who inhabit every board. Newbies can get caught up in the warfare that so often occurs on the boards and newbies can also crash and burn simply because they try to be total smart-asses and get the wrong people off-side.

So if you're a newbie here are some tips on surviving on the adult webmaster boards long enough to actually start learning things.

Keep your mouth shut
When you first hit the boards you may have an overwhelming desire to start joining in the conversation but you're far better off keeping your mouth shut and just listening and observing. When you're listening you're learning and that's what you should be on the boards to do.

When you're listening you'll also have a better chance of spotting the real experts ... the wannabe experts ... and others like you who are trying to get their head around all the information they need to know to grow.

Don't be an idiot
If you can't resist the temptation to say something on the board make sure that you don't come across as a total idiot. Newbies are expected to ask questions so feel free to ask questions ... even questions that you might consider to be classified as dumb ... just don't act like a smart ass or some sort of Internet tough guy.

Avoid arguments
Webmaster boards are home to lots of people who have big egos and in many things that we do there is no absolutely right way or absolutely wrong way to do something. Instead there's always the way that works for you but that doesn't stop the guys with the big egos from getting into a war of words ... beating their chests ... and prancing around like a gorilla on a sugar high.

It's quite easy to get sucked into that chest-beating too but avoid it at all costs. You might want to jump in and beat your chest too but the guy you may want to put down may one day be the person who can give you the boost you need and if you've pissed him off in the past there's no guarantee that he will help you when you need it.

Be careful who you trust
The Internet is a rich feeding ground for fraudsters, con artists and trolls and webmaster boards are one of the best places for them to find easy marks. Over the years there have been some well-known and long-term board members who have turned out to be nothing but scummy little con artists cheating people out of their hard-earned money.

Unfortunately newbies are about the easiest mark of all for these people so when you hit the boards and announce that you're new and looking for some good advice you need to understand that you'll be painting a very big target on your back.

Spend time in the archives
It's almost guaranteed that the questions you want to ask have already been asked by someone else and you'll find the answers buried in the board's archives. Be prepared to spend lots of time in there because there will be some real gems for you to find.

Apart from that, if you don't spend time in the archives and just start asking questions that have been asked before people will quickly understand that you're just lazy and probably not worth helping because you don't want to help yourself.

Webmaster boards can be great places for newbies to learn but they can also be brutal for those who don't approach them in the right way. If you follow some of the tips I've just given you then you'll enjoy the boards.

But if you ignore these tips then you may end up feeling a lot of pain that you weren't expecting. It's all up to you.