The Republican and Democratic national conventions have just wrapped up, both parties have selected their candidates, and the 2008 U.S. election campaign switched into high gear.

Wait… don’t leave! I promise I’m NOT going to talk politics!

Well, not directly, anyway…

See, as an Internet marketer, what REALLY interests me about this year’s election is the role the Internet is playing in helping to shape its outcome.

Well, not the Internet, exactly. That’s been changing elections for a few years now, as dramatically as the introduction of television did back in the early 60s.

No, what I’m really talking about is how much social networking on the Internet is changing politics.

Seems that social networking websites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and Flickr — which were started as ways for people to keep in touch with their friends and family, share their latest holiday photos, and post their favorite cute animal videos — have become pretty powerful tools for candidates.

Leaders of all political stripes have started using them aggressively to get their ideas across, unite their supporters, and create communities of like-minded individuals who effectively campaign for them.

And then there’s the whole fundraising thing…

Thanks to social networking sites, the candidates have been raising RECORD amounts of money for their campaigns!

I’d say there’s a lesson to be learned here for all of us online marketers, wouldn’t you?

I mean, on Facebook alone, Barack Obama and John McCain have a combined 2 MILLION supporters (or "friends," in Facebook-speak) and growing DAILY!

Sheesh! Imagine the amount of traffic you’d get to your website if YOU had even a tiny fraction of this number of people talking about YOU and YOUR business… every DAY! And that should be your real goal as an Internet marketer: to get people talking.

Despite what many would have you believe, the value of using Facebook and MySpace is NOT so you can make tons of money in sales directly off of these sites. Instead, it’s about developing a presence online, raising awareness of your product, and building a community of people whose interests reflect your business.

That can translate to a LOT of excitement, more visitors to your site, and increased sales. And the great thing about social networking is that it’s really easy to get started, and usually FREE! You can have an account and profile for your first site set up in the next few minutes!

So if you haven’t jumped on the social networking bandwagon yet, here are the FIVE simple steps you need to follow to get started:

Step #1: Create a user profile for your business

The first step in getting started with social networking is to create user profiles for your business on the major networking sites, including Facebook, LinkedIn, and Flickr.

The most important thing to remember? Do NOT fill your business profile with all kinds of salescopy and other "hype." That’s the FASTEST way to turn people OFF on social networking sites.

Your profile should strictly be an introduction to your business, and a BRIEF overview of what it does, and who it’s for. And make sure your profile is detailed and descriptive, and has a lot of your keywords and phrases in the title and descriptions, so that when people search on those terms, your profile is sure to come up.

Step #2: Research groups related to your industry

Once your profile is set up, it’s time to start looking for people to connect with, so you can begin to build a broad network of online supporters.

Your goal is to locate other individuals and businesses who have interests related to your business. The best way to do this is to simply start typing keywords related to your business into the site’s search box, and see who turns up.

Step #3: Start "mingling," and getting to know people

Once you’ve identified individuals and businesses you’d like to start building relationships with, it’s time to get involved.

First, start requesting that people add you as their contacts or "friends" (or whatever the particular site calls these relationships), and then check out the conversations and discussions your new friends are having. Get to know their likes and dislikes, and the kinds of issues that concern them, so you’ll be ready to add value to the conversation.

One word of warning when you’re adding contacts: It pays to be a bit choosy about who you invite to be your friends. Your list of friends reflects your interests, and sometimes even your character, so restrict your invites to those who really do have something in common with you.

Step #4: Join in!

When you’re ready to join the conversation, make sure you focus on providing USEFUL information, and contributing your expertise to further the discussion.

Remember, your goal with social networking isn’t to make a ton of sales directly from these sites, but to get your name on to the Web, and build relationships with your potential market (and other business owners). So keep the sales pitch to a minimum!

And finally, be sure to keep it professional. You don’t want to start buying virtual drinks for your new friends, or "poking" them on Facebook!

Step #5: Is it worth it? Here’s how to find out…

It’s easy to get swept up in the fun and excitement of social networking, and find yourself spending HOURS communicating with your new friends (and barely doing any other work)!

So be sure to ask yourself this: Do the number of hours I spend on social networking sites yield enough results to make sense financially?

That may sound like a tough one to figure out, but fortunately, you can do it automatically with this free calculator.

You just put in a few simple figures (like the number of hours you or your staff spend on social networking sites, the number of friends you have, etc.,) and it will tell you if you’ll potentially earn more through your social networking strategy than you’ll spend on it.

Social networking is definitely a hot Internet marketing strategy, and NOT just for presidential candidates…

As long as you respect the rules of the social networking sites, and avoid blatant self-promotion and sales pitches, you should easily start making new customers left, right, and center!

A lot of the heavy hitters in Internet marketing have been flocking to it like magpies, claiming it’s the “next big thing” in Internet marketing. They say if you don’t base all your marketing efforts on it, your business is DOOMED TO FAIL. Yikes!

Before you get caught up in all the hype, let’s just take a moment to consider what Web 2.0 actually IS, and whether it’s worth two seconds of your time.

Web 2.0: The secret weapon that’s going to help you “strike it rich”? … Or just another hammer in your toolbox?

There seems to be a lot of confusion around the term “Web 2.0″ and what it really means.

Simply put, Web 2.0 refers to the rise in popularity of websites that encourage user input and interactivity, and place heavy emphasis on community and shared experiences.

For example, well-known Web 2.0 sites include…

Wikipedia — The world’s most popular online encyclopedia, in which all the content is contributed and edited by its users (as opposed to paid experts)

Facebook — A popular social-networking site, where people can find old friends, post pictures of themselves, and share information about their lives with other registered members.

Digg — One of the best-known social bookmarking sites, where people share links to their favorite articles, videos, or images. Users then vote on the offerings, and the ones that get the most “Diggs” rise to the top and are seen by the most viewers.

… And that’s just a few! Basically, any site that features a blog or forum, or encourages input and feedback from its users, falls under the definition of “Web 2.0.”

But what does this mean for marketers?

According to all the current hype, Web 2.0 means TRAFFIC — and lots of it.

The theory is that the more you interact on Web 2.0 sites like those mentioned above, the more you can expose potential new customers to your brand, and encourage them to visit your site.

And the more links you get pointing to your site from popular, high-PageRank sites such as these, the higher your site will appear in the search engine standings.

… Which means even MORE traffic to your site!

In practice, this is mostly true. Kind of.

Yes, you can drive a lot more traffic to your site from social media and bookmarking sites.

But — and here’s something the majority of Web 2.0 fanatics neglect to point out — it takes a LOT of TIME and EFFORT to get that traffic.

And on top of that, a question that must be asked is: “What KIND of traffic do you get???”

They can smell a pitch from a mile away

To understand the true value of Web 2.0-style marketing, first you need to understand the type of people who spend a lot of time hanging out at Web 2.0 sites.

These are people seeking diversion and entertainment. They want to socialize with their online friends, watch an entertaining video, or read something interesting or informative.

… In other words, they’re looking for FUN — not for something to buy!

So if you think you can just waltz into an online community and start talking about your product and how great it is — and then drive swarms of interested buyers to your site — you are DREAMING.

The fact is, they’ll probably tar and feather you — then run you out of town on a rail!

If you want to get any traction whatsoever out of Web 2.0 sites, you have to invest a LOT of your time in them.

You need to carefully observe how people interact with each other on the site, and then follow their example. You need to provide lots of useful free advice or other interesting information, so people appreciate your input.

And — unless people ask you about it — the ONLY place you should mention your business or your site URL is in your signature and/or your profile page.

Your sole objective should be relationship building, NOT selling.

As people begin to know you and trust you, they might become interested in checking out your site, in order to learn more about you.

But even if you DO manage to lure a bunch of new visitors to your site from a social site like Facebook or Digg, you have to remember that they’re clicking through mostly out of curiosity…

… NOT because they’re in a buying frame of mind.

And that means your “Web 2.0 traffic” isn’t going to convert at the same rate you’d expect from the traffic you get from your affiliates, joint venture partners, or pay-per-click ads.

But does that mean “Web 2.0 marketing” isn’t worth your time?

That depends… on you.

Is your business ALREADY a proven money-maker… Or still just a “twinkle in your eye”?

If you have a well-established, profitable business that’s doing a great job of turning traffic into sales… And you’re getting hundreds, if not THOUSANDS, of high-converting visitors to your site each day…

… Only then should you even consider getting into “Web 2.0 marketing.”

Even though Web 2.0 traffic doesn’t convert as well as traffic from other sources, putting your name and business brand out there on such hugely popular sites really IS a great way to introduce your product to new audiences.

It’s just that it takes a whole lot longer to connect the dots between the effort you put into it… and the eventual sales you get as a result.

So if your business is still in “blueprint mode”…

… Or if you do have a site, but it’s not getting much traffic yet and few of your visitors are converting into customers…

… Then the truth is, there are probably a LOT of things you should be working on that will yield far more tangible, profitable results than spending hours each day on a site like Facebook or Digg!

Before you invest a lot of time on “Web 2.0″ marketing, you absolutely MUST do the necessary research to make sure people actually WANT to buy your product!

Make sure your salescopy and site design are doing the BEST possible job of converting visitors into buyers!

Optimize your site for the search engines — which, contrary to some marketers’ claims, are STILL the greatest source of free traffic available online!

Use proven traffic generation strategies — such as pay-per-click advertising and article marketing — to drive more qualified visitors to your site (Yes, the old “tried & true” methods still work best!)

Partner with other successful businesses and do joint ventures to put your product in front of new groups of interested visitors

Once your business is making good money — and you’ve maximized all the proven ways of driving qualified traffic to your site — THEN AND ONLY THEN should you turn your attention to “Web 2.0.”

… Because otherwise, I’m afraid you’ll find yourself digging WAY too many holes in the ground — but never striking gold.

Am I reading this wrong?