Click and Grow Rich: Intro to How to Make Money on Web 2.0

We are on the brink of a new era of wealth creation, which will accelerate us beyond the Information Age. This acceleration will be largely aided by Web 2.0 and next generation Internet technologies and social websites.

Since first publishing Performance Measurement through John Wiley & Sons, I have been intrigued with the prospect of sharing through words the latest break-through business and technology ideas that help readers like you get results. And that is why I wrote The New Science of Success and am now working on Click & Grow Rich: How to REALLY Make Money on Web 2.0. So let's start the process of seeing how you can really fatten your wallet (or your purse) with Web 2.0.

I'm Frank Shines. As a former Air Force officer, IBM executive and Ernst & Young consultant, I have had the good fortune to work at the leading edge of business and technology innovation, learning from pioneers such as Dr. Mikel J. Harry, Dr. W. Edwards Deming, Dr. Daniel Denison and Forrest Breyfogle.

In response to feedback from many of you, I am writing a new book entitled, Click & Grow Rich: How to Really Make Money on Web 2.0. There are many ways to make money on Web 2.0. In the coming weeks I will provide you with much more detail on each of these topics, but for now let me highlight a few points in rapid, bullet fashion:

• Use Web 2.0 for education, training and personal development. This makes you more marketable and increases your salary. Check out MITs free online courseware or UC Berkeley's college content on YouTube.
• Use Web 2.0 to save money - lots of money! Use content you create on social networking sites to push you to the top of Yahoo and Google search results, rather than paying hundreds to thousands of dollars for SEO experts. Use Google Docs, Zoho and WordStar instead of buying many expensive licensed MS Office applications (e.g., Word, PowerPoint and Excel...I'd still keep one or two Office apps licenses for offline use).
• Use Web 2.0 to find top-paying jobs. Get recognized and clean up digital dirt by developing and publishing online articles and other content and posting to social networking sites. Use LinkedIn, Rize, Orkut and other sites as your online resume and Rolodex.
• Use Web 2.0 to develop your personal online brand, making you the expert in a topic and capable of winning speaking, consulting and other services - which are very lucrative. Couple this with SpeakerMatch.com membership for public speaking gigs.
• Use Web 2.0 to get promoted in your current job or get recruited by others willing to pay you what you are worth.
• Use Web 2.0 to make better investment decisions: look at Google and Baidu stock over the past two years. My Web 2.0-heavy stock portfolio fetched me over 60% return in 2007.
• Use Web 2.0 to generate multiple income streams while keeping your day job. We will talk more about this in upcoming articles.
• Use Web 2.0 to start up your own business. Stay tuned for specifics on this oportunity to generate wealth.
• Use Web 2.0 as a source of post-retirement income. Retired professionals have amassed great content and real-life experiences, which are in high demand. Develop digital content and get it online. Let those advertisers start sending you checks as your sites work for you 24x7 attracting eyeballs -- whether your at home or playing on the beach.

So here are a few specific ways to make money right now. Create a few articles, audio and video clips on a topic of which you are knowledgeable. Post to sites like Scribd, HubPages, Evoca, FaceBook, MySpace, BlogTalkRadio, YouTube, Yahoo Video, DailyMotion, for starters. Share this high quality content and build loyal audiences to attract advertising revenue through Google Adsense. Then convert this material into digital products and sell these through sites such as FreeIQ.com and Lulu.com.

This is just a very small start...so stay tuned as I take you through more specifics in the coming weeks.