Long-winded post about using other peoples' stuff, sorry in advance

> I never have in my life -- which is one of the reasons it takes me forever
> to do ANYTHING. Just once, I decided to try to "plop up a niche
> site" (okay, so it took me a month working practically around the
> clock, but I digress) and use other people's articles.

> The very idea makes me wheeze.

I'm sorry, but I started writing a simple post and it turned into some kind of manifesto. Please forgive me for not deleting what I consider some good off-the-cuff writing :)

Recently I posted the first article on my site which wasn't written by me. I thought hard about it, and remembered that for a long time I've been asking people for articles they want to put on my site. I've always wanted it to be a community, not just me.

Unfortunately, the article I just posted was by Jim Edwards. No offense to him, of course, but it's not exactly an article created by a community. I just liked the article and I was allowed to substitute my affiliate link for his. Yes, I might make some money, but probably not much.

I think it was a good decision. I won't likely post another Jim Edwards article for a long time. Most visitors to my site are probably unaware of him, and will get the blessing of being introduced to another great writer and marketer.

I've requested articles from other people too, mainly those who are humbly and silently successful in business. (If you're one of these people, consider writing for me -- free advertising). I just remembered a post I read here recently about someone who's making a quarter million per month selling tools on eBay. I'd love to talk to that person.

Back to using articles of others: I just can't have people visiting my site and seeing that it hasn't been updated in a week. New people would take that as a sign that my site sucks. People who already know me would just think "Oh, he's busy learning to use eBay and AdWords on the side while doing the IMC tutor thing."

It's common business sense to say that it's easier to keep a customer than to get one. On the other hand, it's WAY easier to anger a prospect than a customer. The customer-courting ritual is complex and has escaped me 99% of the time. This is why I choose to do business online iostead of talking on the phone. My newsletter does some nice follow-up, I think (but I haven't received any feedback about my newsletter so it might just be a pile of crap).