[cbscreative]

Interesting discussion, and I would go with the common sense you are outlining. The main thing that comes to mind for me on this is that quality links might be easier than some people seem to believe, but they do take time. I'm glad that I didn't pursue the link trading strategy. I get regular requests from people asking me to link, and I basically ignore them because I prefer to find relevant places to link to when it enhances the content of my site.

I've also found that others do the same. I don't have to ask for links. I've build a lot of content and found that other sites will link to that content because they like it.

Here's a strategy I've found to be very effective. A lot of the content on my site does nothing to put money in my pocket directly. For example, I have a lot of info on preventing computer disasters. Although I can provide this service, I really don't actively market it. The information is there for two reasons: To help small business owners realize the importance of protecting data, and so others will link to it without me asking them to. Since I know of univerities linking to this information, that has given it authority.

The benefit is even though I don't really care about actively marketing this as a service, getting good ranking in this area spills over into better ranking for things where I do make money like graphics, web, and copywriting.

People use the web for information. Providing useful information is an effective strategy to indirectly making money from a web site. It's not the fast track, but after doing it for a few years now, I know it works. It has also allowed me to stay consistent and keep growing through every change in search engine algorithms.