There are one-to-many media…like newspapers. (One publisher, with many readers.)

And then there is the first many-to-many medium, on a global basis, the Web.

During its first fifteen years the Web took baby steps towards its promise as a many-to-many medium. Traditional media built big sites online, in the hope that the Web was simply another one-to-many medium they could control.

Sadly for them, that isn’t the case.

The growth of social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter has accelerated the evolution of the Web’s true nature…as a many-to-many medium.

There are now a billion of us online, worldwide. More and more we ignore big media websites and, instead, connect with one another, learn from one another and listen to recommendations and warnings from one another.

The natural outcome of this shift in attention, from big media to each other, is that big media sites online will become increasingly irrelevant.

So who will the new media be? It will be you, and me, and a billion other people online, connected 24/7.

And that is very good news for those of us who have created our own information websites on topics that interest us.

As an example, with my own website, CoffeeDetective.com, my role is not to provide the final word as an expert. I’m not an industry expert, I’m just someone who knows more about coffee than most.

My position as an expert-next-door fits perfectly within the web as a many-to-many environment. My visitors don’t want to seek out some big industry website about coffee. They would rather connect with me. Why? Because I’m not a big company. I’m not an inaccessible expert. I don’t write in the language of coffee professionals. And I do answer questions people ask through my site.

In other words, I’m just a regular web user, like my visitors. I’m part of the many-to-many.

As social media continues to grow the connections between individuals online, the opportunity for people to write their own money-making websites on topics that interest them increases.

In a many-to-many environment we want to learn from each other, not from big media.

This is the opportunity you will find explored in my book, New Path to Riches.

Buy New Path to Riches from Booklocker.com (also available as e-book)

Buy New Path to Riches from Amazon.com.

Then the web came along and a few brave folks built their own websites, and were able to bypass traditional media and share their writing with a broader, online audience.

Then blogging appeared. It’s easier to start a blog than it is a website, so thousands more people started to share their writing, and interact with others. Suddenly, and for the first time ever, the volume of output from amateur writers began to exceed that of professional authors.

Then MySpace and Facebook appeared. The means of publication had become totally democratized. Tens of millions of people are now publishers. The tools and interfaces are becoming easier and easier to use. And it is becoming easier and easier to share one’s knowledge, expertise and opinions.

The thing is, most people who write Facebook pages don’t move on to write websites of their own.

That’s a pity, because many people have a lot of knowledge they can share. They don’t realize that building a website has also become incredibly easy. Nor do they realize that they can make a good second income by writing their own website.

That’s what my new book, New Path to Riches, is all about. It is a call to everyone who enjoys writing online, even through Facebook.

Its message is simple. If you enjoy writing and sharing, you really can write a website of your own. And it really can earn you a very nice second income.

Buy New Path to Riches from Booklocker.com (also available as e-book)

Buy New Path to Riches from Amazon.com.