How to better use Web 2.0?

Web 2.0 is more concept than reality, but it is still changing the way business is done online, just as the concept of the assembly line transformed the industrial world. Simply defined: Whereas the original Internet was used as a delivery method primarily for one-way communications, Web 2.0 gives users a way to respond. Those who are on the road to Internet success know that Web 2.0 is all about the audience taking action during the show, rather than sitting back as passive recipients of information.

This has advertisers everywhere in a panic. For hundreds of years, they have worked within a paradigm in which they deliver ads and marketing messages to the eyes of the consumer, and the consumer passively enjoys it while consuming what is sold. This world has been turned upside down. Now users are creating their own commercials, parodic and otherwise, to post on YouTube. News organizations reluctantly publish readers’ snap comments. Vocal consumers complain about bad products. And everywhere, sales are increasing.

That’s right, letting consumers have a say has increased, not decreased, sales. This is because savvy marketers have adapted to the new paradigm and found ways to get consumers to help create content, sell products, and serve as part of the marketing team. But how can you do it yourself on your way to internet success?

Start by looking at how money is made in Web 2.0. YouTube, Wikipedia, and Facebook are major players, and with the exception of Wikipedia, they make money off of PPC advertising from user-created content (Wiki refuses to accept ad money, but thousands of entrepreneurs scrape their content and make a lot of money advertising on content created by Wiki users.)

A simple forum is a good way for those on the road to internet success to take advantage of this. Just create a space and build an audience by targeting a non-specific niche. Running ads here can bring you a decent income if you have a well-behaved and enthusiastic online mob. You can also use it to make affiliate sales through big players like Amazon.com or through smaller niche industries that cater to your audience.

Those who are on the road to Internet success realize that with a great forum, blog, or other space open to a community of users, they can also generate a great flow of traffic to their site. You do this by attracting Google’s attention through a well-written blog, encouraging forum rats to talk about and link to your site, and simply by advertising on other community sites. With a small community of enthusiasts, a great site can quickly gain a good market share.

If you want to capitalize on Web 2.0, change the way you think about users. Your community is, in a very real way, your marketing team. Wear them, make them love you, and build an empire online with new media. They can help you get further on the road to success on the Internet.

For your internet marketing success!