Hi Liz-
Great - I'm glad you know about NPI- It's a really good way to have a placeholder for ideas, control pointers to your site(s), have domains for special projects.
I also use the Tracker Library a lot for "masked" affiliate links - but that's a different thread (in fact, I may do a quick tut, if I can manage to spend enough time to make it short!!!)
Ok- supplemental pages and getting "dinged" (that's a highly technical term...
)
SBI only works WITH you. The system doesn't punish or pull you down in anyway. All the tools/system/helps/forum (do I make my point?) work to build you up.
Google, while a great and fertile "land of opportunity" is the one that does the "dinging".
Supplemental pages are pages in which there is content that is duplicated on other indexed pages somewhere on the internet.
If you submit an article for distribution and others post it to their sites, you may end up in the supplemental file.
This brings your perceived valued down - and impacts how Google ranks and rates your site.
Lisa actually knows a bunch more about this than I do - maybe she could chime in here (to keep the "ding" metaphor in play?
)
The main focus remains: write valuable content for your readers. Don't chase rankings or ratings or supplemental information in the early, building phase.
When you get to the part where you're building a link-program (inpointing links to your site) just remember that the articles you post should also be high quality and unique - as if you're creating a page for your site.
I'll be checking your progress, Liz. Our niches are similar and it's fun to watch and help folks (without fear, mind you. We're in a multi-billion dollar market/industry/niche - there's plenty of room for us!)