Cool post Joe, thumbs up!
I agree with you, and can only say that there are NO SHORTCUTS when you're smaller and competing with the big fish.
Strive for excellence in every aspect.
Find the right positioning for your product/service. If you're small - be unique!
Use your financial resources to actually strengthen your business - don't spend tons of money with advertising before you're well structured. By "well structured" I mean:
Buy/Produce quality content.
Buy/Develop a killer back end.
Host somewhere FAST and reliable.
Get your billing lined up intelligently.
Treat your end users and affiliates like gold.
Hire a design company that will care about your online performance, so your sites can PERFORM and communicate your positioning effectively.
If all of the above factors are taken care of, now NETWORK YOUR ASS OFF - and spend some money on advertising!
Cheers Joe, great thread!
Bruno Dickman
