If you are the sort of online self publisher who winces every time they come across the words SEO or PPC, here is some news to get your blood boiling with excitement.

You can ignore SEO, you can ignore paying out valuable dollars for PPC (pay-per-click) traffic and you can also ignore other success basics like building an opt-in email list and still end up being a very successful online self publisher.

It is interesting how SEO (search engine optimization) has become a nightmare to many a self publisher in recent times when search engines rules have been changing too drastically and too frequently. It is now common to have your site virtually wiped out overnight from search engine rankings because of a sudden change in policy. It is a nightmare many self publishers have had to live with.

This makes any talk of throwing SEO into the nearest dustbin all the more exciting for many self publishers.

But just how realistic is it and what will replace these trusted traffic generation tools?

Actually the truth is that in recent times a number of bloggers have demonstrated how powerful simply cultivating an appropriate image can be. Brands spend millions building an image and many untalented celebrities continue to earn millions simply because of the reputation they have carefully and deliberately developed over time.

Apparently a blog is also a medium of communication that can be used powerfully to build a desired image quickly and virtually overnight. Some bloggers have simply taken cautious aim at a well know name in their industry and fired a well constructed and carefully thought-out salvo of criticism at them. The effects have been amazing. Some of these blogs have picked up several hundred high traffic links within a few hours and overnight they have become famous as the blogger who challenged Goliath.

No SEO, no purchase of links and certainly no advertising and yet a self publisher moves from oblivion to stardom and a huge audience in one deft stroke. It is certainly not easy but it is definitely worth studying and developing the necessary image building skills that will enable any publisher to ignore SEO and get way with it.