Web 2.0 is dead here.

I came across a quote today, and I want to share it with all of you. Why? Because with a little bit of modification, it touches on a subject that I've been very passionate about lately. Especially as I spend less and less time here in the warrior forum, and more time working with other businesses.

The quote : "... network marketing is an industry of business ownership pursued by people who have never been business owners.” - Mike Dillard.

What modifications do I need to make? Change "network marketing" to "internet marketing". That's it.

You see, as a copywriter I see a lot of new IMers coming to me, asking for advice, copy, content, what have you. And for the most part, I give them the best advice I can - do your homework, be prepared to invest in your business, be prepared to work, and come back to me when you've got a solid foundation.

And unfortunately, most of them never come back. And I see them back on the copywriting forum months later, wondering why they still haven't made any money with their "how to make money online" product (or even products in other niches.)

Here is the big problem that I see happening with the IM community as a whole.

For the most part, you're disconnected.

You're disconnected from the business world, disconnected with your customers and potential customers, and disconnected with how business is done on other arenas. Which is why very few of you will ever see success.

I'm not talking about being connected by social media, or market research, or anything like that. I'm talking about the fact that once you extend beyond the internet marketing community, you realize that the internet - as a whole - doesn't give a crap about what you're doing.

For the most part (and there are exceptions to this rule, so don't flame me here), you're all so focused on the making money side of things that you forget what the internet IS.

At it's very foundation, the internet is a series of connections. Those connections allow anyone, from anywhere, to go online and access all kinds of information.

But so many of you are so focused on a quick buck, or a "passive income", that you forget the most important thing about those connections - that they're used by real people.

Take, for example, a recent WSO I saw (that I will not name, because that just isn't my style to bring someone down...)

It was, in essence, a way to spam comments onto blogs.

Essentially, that piece of software simplified blogs into just something to give you easy traffic and backlinks. But think about it for a second.

99% of blogs are run by PEOPLE. Real people, with real stories to tell, connecting with real readers who want to hear those stories.

What would be a much better way to connect with these people?

Stop looking for the quick-fix solution, and provide value. Tell YOUR story. Show that YOU are a real person.

Another example - articles for search engine fodder. I despise those articles. Every. Last. One of them. Why? Because they were never intended to be read by a human being - their only purpose is to get links (most of which will probably never be clicked on) in an effort to gain more of the almighty dollar. Which is why they aren't WORTH anything - even to the people buying them. You need so many of these articles (thousands sometimes) to make an impact, that you might as well hire "Dave" from Mumbai to write his "very best article Sirs for your projeckts", because the content doesn't MATTER.

An alternative? Feature quality content. Written and researched by a human being, intended to be read by a human being. THAT is how you get high PR backlinks with content.

Most of the internet marketing community has become so focused on following systems and formulas and using tools that they've completely forgotten what the internet is about - connecting people and ideas.

That is why Web 2.0 is dead here. Web 2.0 wasn't about "recreating the internet" - it was about returning the internet to it's roots, and reconnecting PEOPLE.

And most of you have forgotten that PEOPLE read your content, PEOPLE buy your products, PEOPLE click your links, and PEOPLE search for information online.

If you want to see real success in internet marketing, I'd make one suggestion to you all. Get out into the rest of the world. Talk with real, brick and mortar business owners (without trying to sell them on your autoresponder services, ugh I won't even go there...) Tweet about things that matter to you, and read articles that you enjoy. Comment on them. With REAL comments.

Contribute value to the people of the internet, instead of just seeing every visitor as a number with a dollar sign attached.

Do you think Allen Says built this forum thinking, "I wonder how many high PR backlinks I have to get to drive 10,000 visitors/month? And then, how many members do I have to have to start charging for this thing?"

No. He started this forum by connecting people. And those who have seen the most success in this forum have done so by making real connections, with other real people. He created this forum with (mostly) pure intentions of creating a community, and he did a damn good job. In the process, he made a big name for himself, and a pretty decent income.

But the connections came first - and the money came later.

Remember that, the next time you're about to throw up some "Engrish" content on EZA or spam a a blog post with comments.

- Cherilyn