Everyone seems to feel the need to try the TGP games at some stage in their evolution as an adult webmaster. Everyone hears of big money to be made for little work and the siren song becomes too much. Some succeed, some find it's not for them and others get badly burned in the learning process.

"There is no substitute for a list compiled from your own stats and your own knowledge."

I guess that one of the most attractive points of TGP is the large number of auto-submitters that are available. The thought of being able to use an auto-submitter that also builds recip tables and mirror pages is almost enough to make any webmaster want to cross over.

Just think of all those hours spent building recip tables for free sites and AVS sites and then sitting completely brain dead while you submit. Wouldn't it be great to exchange it all for $25.00 per month and a script that does everything for you? With a script like that you would only have to spend an hour or so a day working.

Like all good stories there is an element of truth in what I have just described. There are scripts available that cost just $25.00 a month and will build recip tables, mirror pages and submit them. They are wonderful tools and they do save time. Every tool has its use and not every tool is suitable for every application.

The unfortunate thing about TGP and the various tools that are available is that they tend to encourage a degree of laziness and a false sense of security in webmasters.

A couple of years ago, before I started doing TGP, I was reading a TGP discussion board where one of the more experienced members had a recurring message for all newcomers. That message was that the only way to succeed in TGP is to build your own submission list. He said repeatedly that there is no substitute for a list compiled from your own stats and your own knowledge. He also said that there was no substitute for hand submitting.

I don't think his message was all that popular back then and it certainly isn't popular now because it seems to go against what so many 'experts' are suggesting – that with a minimum amount of work and an auto-submit script, you can make a fortune.

Let me say right here and now that this is not an attack on auto-submitters. What I want to stress is that no script entirely removes the hard work that has to be done if you want to succeed.

One of the biggest problems with auto-submitters is that many webmasters fall into the trap of relying on the lists that come with the various submit scripts and never look outside those lists for alternatives. Not every list is prepared to be included in auto-submitters available to adult webmasters today. And more importantly, not every list that is included in those auto-submitters actually accepts submissions from those submitters.

Once again, that is not a reflection on auto-submit scripts. The fact is that TGPs come and go and some decide that they are not going to accept auto-submits anymore but they fail to tell the guys who maintain the actual scripts. In a business where continual flow of traffic is critical to our success we shouldn't necessarily rely on a third party for important things like the thumbnail gallery posts that we submit to.

It's very easy to be lulled into a false sense of security when your auto-submitter tells you that it is submitting to 650 different TGPs. The real test though is not how many TGPs the script submits to but how many actually send you traffic.

In my case, I found that I was only getting traffic back from less than 100 TGPs and only half of those were sending me more than 10 hits a day. That came as a bit of a shock but at least it gave me a good foundation on which to build a decent submit list.

I guess that the lesson to be learned here is that there is no easy and guaranteed way of making money in TGP regardless of what others might say. There is no substitute for hard work and total reliance on auto-submitting scripts can certainly reduce your potential to make money rather than increase it.

By stepping out of the auto-submit loop you also free yourself up to take advantage of those sites that are looking for trusted submitters. Partnership offers are like gold, especially when it comes from a post that sends you traffic.

If you insist on using submitting scripts, look for the ones that allow you to set up your own unique submit list. It certainly is more work initially but you have the flexibility to add sites that you know have the potential to send you good quality traffic.

Once you have your list set up, keep monitoring your stats and adding extra TGPs. Eventually you will end up with a reliable list that will for you. Your personal list will become a valuable tool in your quest for success.