If you read about blogs and Internet marketing, you’ve probably heard the term social media, and in particular, the "new social media." Here is a great post by Chris Heuer that describes a little bit of history and the future of our changing connectivity online.

His post is a little long, but worth the read, even if you aren’t familiar with some of the players involved. Pay attention to these concepts, they could impact the future of your business with regards to how you work and how you communicate.

As we have seen with reality television, the hybrid of overly produced “barely based on reality” does not hold sway with people for long. The deep human desire for genuine connections with the hero’s journey via Joseph Campbell will not tolerate gimmicks or fools for long. Genuine human drama, ‘How To’ content, insightful commentary, truly funny comedy, emotionally charged entertainment, engaging conversations, factual news of the world and stories well told will rule the day.

There are some very clever expert Internet Marketing gurus on the Web. They are great copywriters. They send out compelling emails that draw you into their realms, promising you will get rich quick online.

Yesterday, we had the privelege of consulting with a smart woman who had invested a lot of money in learning online marketing strategies. She had bought the package of, let’s say, Gerry Guru, only it wasn’t working. She had her web site, her long sales/landing page, her opt-in form with free bonuses, an autoresponder system set up to ‘manage’ her database…only there wasn’t much to manage. She built it, only they didn’t come!

The problem was it was the wrong strategy for her. This system might have worked for Gerry Guru, after all, he was one of the first to implement these internet techniques. He got rich, so now you can too? All you have to do is copy his system, and you will be rich? I don’t think so.

Be sure you talk to the right people with a few years of Internet marketing experience before you invest your money. Not all systems work for all people, and the truth is, if your marketing plan looks like everybody else’s, you can’t expect the world to beat a path to you.

The same applies to blogs. While there is no doubt that just putting up a blog and posting 2-3 times a week will increease traffic to your web site, and more than likely bring in new clients, nothing is guaranteed. You have to post quality articles, link frequently to build up traffic, give away valuable information, and create a community of readers who love your stuff. Oh, and the technology must be up and running correctly so you can use trackbacks, record your traffic with a site meter, gather subscriber’s email addresses, etc.

There are very expensive lessons to be learned by throwing money at a problem. Make sure you invest wisely with people you can trust. Got questions? Ask.

P.S. Denise Wakeman of Next Level Partnership and BizTips Blog and I are teamed up to provide consulting for small businesses and professionals who want to leverage the Internet to grow business and get more clients. If you struggle with your newsletter, blog, autoresponders, e-commerce, or need to implement an Internet marketing strategy, give us an email.

I don’t want to be negative, BUT! I am leery of emails announcing "how I made 50K in one month, and you can too!" I’m very happy for anyone who sells their products for an appropriate fee and makes money online doing what they are very good at. I don’t doubt they did make that much. That’s not my point.

There are so many online marketing gurus who don’t hesitate to "tell all their secrets" if only you’ll give them $1000, $5000, or more. We’ve all fallen for something and then been disappointed.

Recently, a couple of book publishing experts were on a call promising that if you signed up for their program they would guarantee you would become a best-selling author on Amazon, or your money back!

Now I have a client who already took their program. He’s meticulous. And he has a reasonably good book, very entertaining, fast moving political/military novel. He did everything this program required. (I know how detailed he is). He did not become a best seller. When he tried to get his money-back guarantee, he was pointed to some fine print and told no refund.

I think I would respond better to someone who was brutally honest and realistic. If you said, "I made $10,000 my first year online, and now I’m making 7 times that much in my 3rd year online," I would believe you. If you told me that there is hard work involved and not everybody gets rich quick online, I would believe you. If you told me you work hard for the money, I would believe you.

Maybe I would make much more if I exaggerated some numbers and told everybody how easy it is… Maybe I would grow my database list to hundreds of thousands if I did start painting a rosy picture and made outrageous promises.

Truth is, it is hard to make money online when you are running a solo business providing services. Ask others who are doing it, they’ll all tell you. We work hard for the money.

Be wary of those people who are overcharging you what you can get from other providers for a reasonable fee. Everything really valuable I’ve learned about online marketing I’ve only paid a small fee for. Except for one time. I bit the bullet and laid out big cash for one person’s entire library of writing secrets.

Was it worth it? No, quite frankly, I have learned the same things from other people lesser known for 1/10 the fee.

Learning is important if you want to grow your business. But that knowledge can be acquired without falling into the "50K in one month" marketing net of sharks.

Need knowledge to grow your business? You bet. Just ask around to find out who is really knowledgeable and how you can get that information without a huge investment. Learning takes time, it shouldn’t take all your money too.