I was hanging out at my favorite pub with a friend who spent years working in the music industry. When I say he worked in the industry, I mean that he really worked in every outlet of the industry. Starting out as a member of various bands in the Pacific Northwest in the late 80s, he wound up working in every facet of the business -- promotions, producing, talent scouting, you name it.

It's been busy here at the Information Marketing Institute and e-Wealth Daily. I have been compiling a lot of research on some information material I have been writing about, as well as getting some new product ideas underway for the near future.

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A few years back, I went home to see some family. While out for a burger and beer with an older friend of the family, I crossed paths with a friend I used to hang out with in public school. We chatted away for a while and, as they say, it's surprising how much hasn't changed.

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I remember having a paper route as a kid. At all of 11 years old, I started having my own professional responsibilities and making money on my own. But, as you might expect, I had to encounter that cumbersome experience of dealing with my customers. I had to approach them personally to collect the bi-weekly fees, take notes of when they did not want to receive the paper due to holidays, and answer to any and all complaints they might have had. It was a tough job, but looking back, I seemed to have handled it well and I held the job for four years with some nice kudos from my customers.

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I haven't gone anywhere without a book for a long time. I never used to be a big reader, until I worked abroad and was robbed of television. Looking back, it was the best thing that ever happened, as I found a world of knowledge that I never really took advantage of before.

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It's always nice when you get e-mails, especially ones from other information marketers seeking advice. As the guy who is dishing out the goods on information marketing tips and advice, it really forces me to do my homework, think, and research the answers to everyone's queries.

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An old colleague in the publishing world once told me about a trip he took to Mark Twain's former residence in upstate New York. He talked extensively about seeing one of his writing idols' homes and the thrilled feeling he got exploring it.

Back in my salad days, I needed extra cash and took freelance writing jobs to help pay the rent. One of the freelance jobs I took was that of web site writer. I created content for a few web sites for a number of different businesses. From house siding suppliers to small business real estate firms to logistics companies, I created the content for all of these web sites, starting with a pen and paper and ending, for some of them, by adding HTML markup for it to be posted online.

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"Just checking..."

That's what was written at the end of the e-mail from a new correspondent I got in touch with thanks to my blog. This person has been endlessly quizzing me on what it takes to be an info marketer. So far, I've helped him understand writing, working from home, and some legal and tax information. It's been a lot of work and he has asked a pile of questions. But I always try to get back to him promptly, and with clear responses.

My colleague is a constant surfer; both on the waves of a South Sea Island someplace and on the Internet, when he isn't doing the former. He's hilarious: to look at him, you'd think he was just another globetrotting bum complete with dreadlocks and Aztec sun tattoos. It is hard to believe that he is one of the most professional information marketers I have ever met. He is honest and his clients love him for the information he provides — travel and surfing tips — and he does very well as a result.

I like when people are honest with me. I truly do. I have had coaches advise me to change the sport that I was in — cross country — to a sport that better suited me — rugby — after it was obvious I could not run as well as the other members. I also liked it when the girlfriend of a landlord advised me to get a new place because, according to her, her soon-to-be ex- boyfriend was "no good" in any way. It saved me many future headaches and money problems.

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I got an e-mail from a friend who was offered a partnership with a fellow info marketer dealing in the same type of information as him. I was very happy for this friend, but he ended his message in a sort of blue mood by saying: "I don't think I'll do it. I am just not that optimistic, Burt. These things never pan out."

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It's hard to believe that comical story of Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree, theorizing away on physics, when an apple hitting him on head gives him the sudden inspiration needed to come up with the three universal laws of motion. But then you never know where ideas might come from or what things—physical or otherwise—can cause ideas to form in your mind.