Of course we all have some sort of angle. Everything I do in my business is to make money.

BUT, I do it in an honest way. I would NEVER, I’ll say it again NEVER (please quote on that for the future) recommend something that I haven’t tried and that I don’t honestly believe would help you!

I would NEVER advise you to do something or to stop doing something that would help me, but not you!

So, I do see your point and it is valid, but my point is that you are either honestly interested in helping people succeed or you aren’t.

*edit* the business owners I am referring to in this post are not. They’ll help you, but only if it helps them! Some of us will help you whether it helps us or not.

Seriously though, it would be difficult to find anyone who markets online without some sort of angle. Even those who give “good” advice are probably looking to build a reputation . . . and why would they even be interested in such a thing if they didn’t have something to sell?

In other words, when reading “advice” it’s always good to consider the source as well as the source’s possible motivation . . . either for selling something now or down the line.

For example, I know of at least one blogger who wants to build an email list which provides good information, but the end result is a funnel into selling ebooks, coaching, and the sort.

In regards to sales pages and products it all comes down to being a good consumer…never judge a book by it’s cover (or its sales page.)

This post is more about the “advice” coming from internet business owners who lie to you about strategies and techniques so you’ll do the things that help their business grow.

For instance, an article directory owner telling you that inserting a rel=”nofollow” into the signature links of your article will not hurt you, because the “real” value is in the traffic that the article directory sends. That traffic helps, but those links do too! Without them, article marketing wouldn’t help at all in ranking in the SE’s.

The focus was not on providing useful content and/or products, just conversion rates etc.

Thankfully, we are (I hope) finally starting to see a shift in this paradigm.

It’s not necessarily the “pushing” of products. I push products as well. It’s all about WHY you push those products.

For me it’s because I honestly recommend them. For others it’s because they have a good affiliate program.

This post is in regards to big services like the one I’m referring to in this example and not necessarily individuals.

“Seriously, I’m going to try to be less product-pusher, and more info-giver, as that seems to be a good mix.”

The trick is to always give more than you take and be honest with everything you do, most importantly, be honest with your product recommendations.