How Web 2.0 Can Ruin Your Life And What To Do About It

Ok, so web 2.0 can’t, in and of itself, ruin your life but…

Web 2.0 has created an online environment that is designed to make us spend more and more time online, which in turn can ruin your life.

Spending A Majority Of Your Free Time Online Is Not Healthy

Errr… isn’t this a blog about making money ONLINE?

Well, yes but…

You can’t spend all your time online and then find time to exercise. You can’t spend all your time online AND cultivate a relationship with your kids. You can’t spend all your time online AND strengthen the relationship with your spouse and/or find a spouse. You can’t spend all your time online AND have a relationship with God. You can’t spend all your time online AND …. (you fill in the blanks)….

You need to have balance and spending too much time making “friends” online can make you unbalanced.

That said, Web 2.0 has it’s good points. As an Internet marketer, leveraging web 2.0 sites can be a great way to make money online, but it does have a cost.

What I Learned In 2007 About Marketing With Web 2.0

I spent a great deal of time in 2007 building online relationships using web 2.0. I would never want to give up the friendships I have made, BUT…

It hurt my off-line relationships with God, with my wife, with my kids, and it also hurt my health. It wasn’t just spending time with Web 2.0 that hurt me but also spending time reading email 10+ times a day. In 2007 I spent WAY too much time checking email. In 2008 I am going to significantly decrease the amount of time I spend experimenting with web 2.0 sites and on other activities like reading email. It’s just not worth it!

But Isn’t Web 2.0 The Best Way To Get Traffic Online?

Yes and No…

Leveraging Web 2.0 is one way to get good traffic to your site, however it is not the only way to get good traffic online. There are many other ways to increase your website traffic that can be just as effective as Web 2.0. In fact, you NEVER want to rely on only ONE form of traffic generation for ALL of your website traffic!. This is so important I am going to say it again:

You NEVER want to rely on ONE form of traffic generation for ALL of your website traffic!

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that you should give up on Web 2.0. What I am saying is that Web 2.0 and other advancements in technology are making it increasingly easier to lose focus on what is important. What I am saying is that spending too much time on surfing the web, making web 2.0 connections, voting on your favorite sites, etc. can ruin your life.

So, what can you do to keep Web 2.0 From Ruining Your Life?

Here are three ways to prevent Web 2.0 from adversely affecting your life:

1. Schedule Your Online Time
   Make sure you always have enough time for the most important things in your life by setting aside a certain amount of time each day that you can be online. First set aside time for the most important things in your life, like spending time with your spouse, kids, etc. Then with the remaining time set a schedule for your online time. Doing this will make you realize just how much time you are wasting on tasks that have no bearing to your emotional, financial, mental, and spiritual well being.

   As Internet marketers, it is important that we schedule our time wisely. There is something called the 80/20 rule that you need to keep in mind when you make a schedule. The 80-20 rule (also known as the Pareto principle, the principle of factor sparsity, and the law of the vital few) basically says that, for most events, 80% of the effects comes from 20% of the causes. In online business this translates to statements like “80 percent of your profits comes from 20 percent of your customers”, and “20 percent of your efforts results in 80 percent of your profits”. Your goal is to schedule as much of your time as possible on that “20 percent” that creates the real profits in your business. Scheduling time to work on the things that actually make you more money is crucial to your success. With Web 2.0 it is easy to focus on the “social” aspects of being online and spend VERY little time actually working on things that make you money.

2. Focus, Focus, Focus
   Web 2.0 is not all bad. After experimenting with social networks, you should find 1 or 2 (maybe 3 or 4) that you really want to focus on and forget about the other ones. When you focus on 1 or 2 social sites for marketing purposes you can become an expert at using those 1 or 2 sites for getting traffic to your sites. If you don’t focus on 1 or 2 sites, you will wind up spreading yourself too thin and not being able to make a big impact using any of them. Not focusing on 1 or 2 Web 2.0 sites for marketing purposes can be a total waste of your time.
3. Step Away From The Computer
   Like I mentioned in step 1 you need to schedule time to spend off the computer. Just like you should schedule your online time, you should schedule time to do the things that are important to you. Otherwise you might rationalize spending more and more time online.

   Take a step away from the computer and live your life. Do the things you enjoy, spend time with your family and friends. Don’t sacrifice a REAL life for an online one.

Final Thoughts

Would you rather have the most friends on MySpace or have a good marriage? Would you rather have the largest community on MyBlogLog or have a great relationship with your kids? Would you prefer to be a top rated Digger or have an online business that pays your bills?

If you spend too much time experimenting with all of the latest and greatest social networks you will find yourself spending WAY more time online in 2008 while making less money than you did in 2007. I don’t know about you, but I want to make more money online while working less, not less money online while working more.

Spending time using Web 2.0 to promote your business, make friends, and have fun can be very good, but spending TOO MUCH time in the Web 2.0 world can ruin your life and be bad for your business.