Hi Nick,
After doing Desktop and SW support for literally thousands of clients in my previous career, I have helped computer users from experts to complete newbies with countless computer issues.
We provided our customers support over the phones via our call center agents.
This message hit home pretty good for me.
I try to apply apply all I learned about customer and client care and support in that career in supporting my partners, customers and affiliates.
Notably, I do one thing different.
I try to have the person I'm helping "learn to learn", so to speak.
Example, I get asked a lot about HTML.
I will ask the level of knowledge of the customer.
If they say zero I would send them a tutorial link so they can learn and send them a free to use html editor.
I do not code them a site for free, that is not how you do business and make money.
If you are too nice and helpful you can end up helping people who will not help themselves.
This will really slow down your productive business activities.
As the old saying goes....."Give a man a fish he eats for 1 day, teach a man to fish and he can eat forever"
Or something like that!
Nick, your other point is that often new, and sometimes more experienced marketers end up promoting every program under the sun and making no $.
Better to do as you where advised by your mentor, promote 1 primary business (your own site and business is always better) and anything else you join, you are in it to advertise your primary business...ie: traffic exchanges or advertising sites/forums etc...
All that being said I always provide my customers with full contact information including email, phone number and skype id.
There is no autoresponder wall at www.my-easy-promoter.com
Best regards,
Jason Lamure
www.my-easy-promoter.com