Are you just SELLING instead of HELPING?

One of my favorite email discussion used to be John Audette's I-Sales Digest. There were many reasons for its success. One was that members of that community helped each other in their posts to the mailing list. John says that I-Sales Digest was the major force behind his success in building a multi-million-dollar business. The digest gave him an opportunity to build credibility, respect and trust while encouraging people to help others. John sold I-Sales Digest to someone who didn't have John's flair and didn't seem to care enough about his readers. It quickly folded. Is your website or newsletter just selling, or is it helping people learn? Help people learn.