Over the past few years, we have seen the advent of Web 2.0. If you have remained unaware of Web 2.0 yet, then you must realize that this means another opportunity for the marketing of business by marketers. This is the present and also the near future. If you belong to the old school and having been using traditional marketing tactics (which are still working just fine) then you may lose out to your competitors in the market.

What you need to do (if you've not already done, that is) is to create an account at a social networking site. You should create a profile that is intriguing and will attract people to click through your site. Expand your circle of friends through the site and use its bulletins to make announcements to your list of friends and more people as well. The best part about all of this is that it can be done at no cost at all! While you may be aware of social networking sites and how they can change internet marketing, what you may not know is how to generate traffic.

The first thing you must do is grow your network. Remember that every contact you make could be a potential customer for you. Build a network by inviting friends as well as their associates. This is done via email. They can pose their queries to you by using the 'Comments' sections and create threads and discussion forums.

Promote your business using blog's. Many social networking websites like MySpace, Friendswin, Friendster and Facebook give you the facility of creating blogs. People use blogs to write down their thoughts, comments or even discuss certain issues. You can post articles in blog's apart from sending them to information directories if you have a business. You could also provide links to your articles on these blogs. A product photo and a review can also be published here and can better attract customers. You may be surprised at the amount of written reaction you will generate but it will help you generate traffic as well as give you an idea about how your product and your business will fare in the real markets.

Once you have created your site or blog you need to do things to increase the amount of traffic you get. You should get some backlinks and there are some simple ways to go about getting them. You could leave comments on blogs belonging to others. What you shouldn't do is randomly leave your URL around. Make a comment that is relevant to the post. Include your own URL at the bottom then. Article directories are another great source for backlinks.

Another thing you should do is to make sure that your articles are published on Web 2.0 websites. List your own site on social bookmarking sites and submit articles regularly. All this is free but you may have to hire a freelance copywriter writer to help develop content. You could also offer attractive screensavers and clipart to attract people to your site.

Make sure you belong to the more popular social networking websites. This will help you develop your own network and does not comprise overt marketing. As you grow your network and invite your contacts to join and they should invite their contacts. This will set up a chain reaction and grow your network enough to make it of use to you and your business.