Before I jump into my review of the “Webmaster Resources” seminar at Cybernet Expo, I will throw a disclaimer in immediately to let you know that it will be nearly impossible for me to not at least somewhat editorialize this piece, given that I work for what I and many other webmasters feel is the strongest (and certainly the oldest) overall adult webmaster resource site on the Internet.

The webmaster resource market has grown immeasurably over the last few years, but it has also seen its share of collapse.Before I jump into my review of the “Webmaster Resources” seminar at Cybernet Expo, I will throw a disclaimer in immediately to let you know that it will be nearly impossible for me to not at least somewhat editorialize this piece, given that I work for what I and many other webmasters feel is the strongest (and certainly the oldest) overall adult webmaster resource site on the Internet.

The webmaster resource market has grown immeasurably over the last few years, but it has also seen its share of collapse. The idea of starting up an alleged “resource site” out of the blue by purchasing a chat board script, and copying the design and content of established resource sites fortunately has begun to taper off in my opinion. If a new resource site has nothing new to offer, its advertisers (if it has any) will soon realize that and will quickly jump ship.

This seminar as with many others at Cybernet Expo was poorly attended. Most of the people who needed to hear what was said didn’t attend this particular seminar, or weren’t even at the show. Needless to say, this was one of my most anticipated seminars to sit in on. Guest speakers included well-known industry webmaster resource site veterans, Dravyk from PaysiteOwners and All of ‘Em, Stephen Yagielowicz from Xbiz, Meat from Netpond, and Greg Geelan from YNOTMasters. As well, Bob Rice from YNOTMasters moderated this seminar, and was also very active in the discussion.

After the brief introductions, the seminar ran like a discussion group with audience participation. Panelists fielded questions and spoke frankly on behalf of resource sites in general as opposed to bragging about their own sites. Of course there was some self-promotion, but the main focus was helping out the webmaster. Websites purporting to call themselves webmaster resource sites have come and gone in droves over the years, and the market is at a saturation point, and will most likely begin to taper off over the next year.

The general consensus when asked what resource sites should offer, and what webmasters are looking for, are good advertising value, informative articles and tutorials, active chat boards with helpful advice, and service directories offering various listings. Dravyk stated, “Resources have exploded and we’ve seen much specialization. There isn’t too much more room to expand, so we will probably see more sub-niches in the future.” Greg matter-of-factly stated, “Simply put, there will be less resource sites in the future,” and he boldly predicted that only about six meaningful resource sites will stand the test of time. Stephen agreed adding, “We are seeing stratification and proliferation with more topic specific resource sites. In some ways the larger sites can’t compete with the smaller ones. We’ll see more smaller sites that are tailored and targeted into specific categories in the future, but there will only be four to six mega-players left.”

When the conversation shifted onto the topic of chat boards, some pretty strong opinions were vocalized. Meat quipped, “Webmasters waste a lot of time on chat boards and need to work on their own time management.” (He also mentioned the launch of Beta Brigade to help webmasters with time management.) Greg agreed adding, “A true resource site aims to make you a better webmaster. How does a person know what the fuck he’s talking about if he spends all day on chatboards instead of working on his sites?” To which Meat added, “Over the last two years I’ve seen a lot more lazy webmasters expecting too many shortcuts. There is a different attitude out there now, and it is causing less productivity. Work hard and manage your time. Time is money.” At this point someone in the audience vocalized their agreement in that the best way to waste your time in this industry is to sit on boards and hit refresh all day.

Since a major part of webmaster resource sites is to provide an outlet for webmasters to network, there are plenty of ways to meet other webmasters. For instance, most of the major webmaster resource sites have an Internet radio show that allows webmasters to network and get to know each other in the live chat rooms. Short on advertising dollars? Another great way to promote yourself and educate the webmaster community is to write an article in an area of your expertise, and receive free advertising on a resource site in trade for your article. Simply put, a true webmaster resource site exists to provide you with the tools to get ahead in business, and should be visited and utilized on a regular basis.

Jay “LAJ” Kopita is the Executive Editor for YNOTNews and the Communications Director for YNOTMasters and can be reached at editor@ynotnews.com and jay@ynotmasters.com.