Collective Courtesy

I don't know what you are promoting, or what methods you prefer, but I'll bet I know one thing for sure. When you post an ad, display a banner, or enter your site into a traffic rotation, you want people to take the time to look at your offer.

The question is, are you taking the time to extend this same courtesy to your fellow netpreneurs? Or, are you one of those people who:

-Uses special software to cheat manual traffic exchanges

-Uses a mailbox cleaner to avoid reading any of the ads your fellow safelisters send you

-Hides the banner exchange code where noone can see it

Too many networkers try to "beat the system" by taking, but never giving. What if everyone had this attitude? What would be the point of networking, if nobody read the ads we posted, viewed our sites on the exchange circuit, or payed any attention to our banners?

More importantly, how can those of us who want to succeed do so with an ever growing "cheat trend"? The answer, I believe, is to express the same kind of consideration we want for ourselves toward others.

Near the close of the 19th century, a small group of biologists gathered on an island near Japan to study the habits of the local ape population. During the course of their observations, these scientists took note of an unexplainable phenomenon later dubbed "The 100th Monkey Syndrome".

The short version of this story is this: According to the records kept by these biologists, once a certain number of apes were taught a particular behavior, a "critical mass" was reached, and all other apes on the island, whether they had been exposed to the new behavior or not, immediatley adopted the knowledge taught to the original group. In essence, it has been proven that a collective effort to learn can and does affect every member of a given society.

If a group of primates has this wonderful ability to draw from a collective intention, surely we can do the same. By having a positive attitude, and treating other people's efforts with the same respect we feel entitled to, we can improve everyone's chances of success. :o)

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Tim Whiston has enjoyed network marketing on the world wide web since April of 2003. He publishes a monthly ezine, and is the author of Net Marketing Exposed.

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