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Today where I live we're looking at a forecast of some rather wild storms ... lots of thunder, lightning and hail ... so I'm jumping into this early ... so early that it's not even 6am.

The subject of this column has been burning a hole in my brain since yesterday ... ever since I started reading an article on headlines ... suddenly there was today's column starting to form.

Today's column isn't going to be about headlines ... I've written on that topic numerous times and I really can't emphasis enough just how important headlines are when it comes to making money in this industry ... but it is going to be about three important things that newbies to this industry need to watch if they want to succeed here.

Watch your money
I can hear the snorts and laughter from newbies all over the planet when I suggest that you need to watch your money because you probably don't have any ... but with hard work it will come and when it does you need to watch what you do with it.

Being broke for so long and then suddenly having the money roll in can be hard to deal with and the first thing you'll want to do is go out and spend it on luxury items you've always wanted ... but those things should be at the bottom of your list.

The first thing you need to do once you've covered your bills is to start investing in better equipment ... better software ... better content for your galleries and free sites. With better and more reliable equipment and better software you'll be far more productive and if you can produce more you can make more money.

With better content you can attract more surfers and build up their fantasies and the hotter you make them ... without tipping them over the edge ... the more chance you'll have of turning their hunger into a sale.

Watch your health
In this business it's a given that you're going to spend long hours in front of your computer screen and that can be so detrimental to your health on so many levels. An aching back ... a sore neck ... they're just the precursors of worse to come.

Poor diet is going to lead to problems with your weight and that will just lead on to even more serious problems. Of course you won't notice it at first but the longer you go on not looking after your health the worse the problems will become until they finally begin to have an impact on the amount of work you can produce each day.

And to avoid all that all you have to do is get some exercise and establish regular sleep patterns. Don't be fooled into pulling all-nighters and working till you fall asleep at your keyboard.

Get out and exercise on a regular basis ... you don't have to jog or train for a marathon ... just go for a brisk walk every day and get a good eight hours sleep. If you do that then the quality of your work will improve and you will outlast many of those who think that being a real webmaster means that you never leave your computer.

Watch the industry
Many newbies come into this business thinking that they know it all. Hopefully it doesn't take them long to realise that they really don't know anything at all and if they're serious then that discovery fires them up to learn all they can.

But what most people don't realise is that if you want to succeed then you never do stop learning. You need to develop a hunger for everything you can learn about adult marketing as well as mainstream marketing.

And that quest for knowledge will take you well beyond the marketing and sometimes you'll wonder if it really is worth going to those places. If you're not sure just ask yourself one question ... is this going to improve my marketing skills?

If the answer is 'yes' then keep following your nose because the success of your business will depend on your marketing skills and your ability to connect with the people who might want to buy what you're selling.

If all that sounds too hard and you think that you can succeed simply by throwing a few images into a gallery and submitting it to every TGP on the planet then maybe you will ... as long as your health holds up and the money keeps on rolling in.

But sooner rather than later the market will move on or there'll be a glitch in your cash flow and you'll be overtaken by those guys who spend their money wisely ... look after their health ... and are willing to spend time growing their marketing skills.