Yes, you use the Internet for your business. You send emails, visit websites, perhaps even instant message or use online video conferencing and document sharing tools. But there is much more to this new digital world out there and it is loaded with potential that is worthy of your attention.

Blogs
While there have been many innovations made in how we present, share and distribute information, none have been quite as popular, or widely quoted, as the blog. It gives everyone a chance to have a voice and, like it or hate it, almost everyone wants to share their opinion with the world. You’ve likely seen news reports quoting a blog about the most recent celebrity scandal or underhanded business deal.

The main concern from a business standpoint is not if your company or your project will be mentioned in blogs, but about how they are treated. Dealing with bloggers often creates a level of transparency that companies are not comfortable with. There have been several cases of bloggers angrily typing away about a new development that replaces a playground, field or woods. They might discuss the unfriendly business practices of some developers who may not be using very earth-friendly products or practices. Conversely, bloggers might praise developers for coming in and cleaning up a neighborhood that was falling apart, or expanding a community that was becoming far too cramped.

A proactive-outreach approach will help. Be as open and forthcoming as possible with information and invite local bloggers to take part in a bloggers’ virtual round table. Total disclosure will prevent the image that you are hiding something. Discuss upcoming projects with them and get feedback from the public through these filters. You can build a very strong outreach program, while keeping an ear to the ground for potential problems ahead. The last thing you want to see is your company getting pushback from the public before you’ve broken ground.

Forums
Forums, message boards, discussion boards, go by many names but have a common purpose—community interaction. Forums give people a chance to discuss topics at hand by exchanging clips of text and occasionally pictures that anyone can read and add to the discussion. These forums have become increasing popular for car clubs, sports teams, events etc.  Homeowner Associations (HOAs) Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) and Franchisees often use message boards to keep members in touch. Communities frequently have message boards to discuss common problems and the challenges they face. Whereas most forms of new media are concerned with creating fast interactions, forums are designed around the “cork board”, community center model. The idea is to post important information to be shared with the entire community.

Monitoring these message boards is very simple, and can help you nip potential problems before they arise. Should someone post questions or concerns about a future project, you can quickly reply, to address the concerns, thus nullifying the problem before it becomes an issue. The effectiveness of the information-sharing media was made evident recently in Flagstaff, Arizona. Local residents used a community message board as the foundation for a petition drive to overturn a rezoning ordinance that had been passed to allow a developer to move forward with a multi-unit residential project. While the residents did eventually withdraw the petition, had the developer monitored the message boards and maintained open lines of communication throughout the process to quickly address concerns, delays and setbacks created by the petition could have been avoided.

Social Networking
Facebook, MySpace, Linkedin, Friendster, Bebo, Classmates, etc. You’ve heard about them in the news, you’ve read about them in the paper and perhaps you’ve interacted with some of the sites yourself. Simply put these sites help people keep in touch in a number of different ways via the Internet. Facebook, MySpace and the like are focused on the social aspects of interaction, while LinkedIn is focused on managing and maintaining business contacts. Each of these sites can help your company, but with very different approaches.

If you’re looking for information on a potential hire – a peek at their Myspace or Facebook page can quickly give you an idea of the caliber person you’re considering, from the kind of hobbies they have to the company they keep.

If you’re looking for new hires or business contacts to help land your next contract, than LinkedIn and Plaxo can be the way to go. They provide easy-to-use networks that offer introductions to people and open doors to opportunity.

Social networks such as these are also good mediums for building brand equity in your company. By creating a community of followers, and in turn following other communities, you can ‘personify’ your projects and create a community that has a vested interest in your project or service. In the event that a particular medium of new media begins to attack you, the community you have built will provide you with loyal followers and brand evangelizers.

Websites
A company’s website is the eye of its marketing, public relations, and often sales funnel. Almost all of today’s marketing efforts steer audiences towards the company’s website, which then provides more detailed information. Well-built websites also steer visitors towards the section they are seeking, and creates a natural call-to-action for them. Media outlets looking for information on your company will check your website before exploring other options. Potential clients and sales leads will naturally review a company before placing a contract in their hands, and your website is the best chance to create a great first impression, or solidify the first impression made in an initial meeting with a client.

While it is commonplace for a company to have a website of their own, the technology behind them is constantly evolving to make them easier to use, update, manage and manipulate. The introduction of many different types of Content Management Systems (CMS) built specifically to manage a website or web based application have made it easier than ever to create and manage a high performance, well-designed and up-to-date website.

Don’t underestimate the power of a website. Online media is the fastest to track, and there is no easier area to keep tabs on than your own website. With the right analytics you can track where users are clicking, how long they stay on a page, what web address or search engine and keywords referred them to your website and much more. With all of this information at your fingertips you can constantly refine and sculpt your website to generate the results you desire. Whether you currently manage your website in- or out-of house – it can always be valuable to use an outside firm that specializes in web development and analysis.

Landing pages
A landing page is the one that a visitor will land on when visiting your site by a method other than simply entering your main website address into their browser. They may be steered to a landing page by advertising, whether it is a TV or Radio commercial, which mentions a specific web address or by clicking on a particular search result or search engine ad.

These pages are designed to increase visitor response rates by providing information specific to their particular needs. For example, if they are looking for a domestic car, they may just go to Chevy.com as a starting point. If they aren’t sure what brand of car they are searching for, they may go to a search engine and type something like “Four Wheel Drive Extended Bed Pickup.” When they hit enter a flood of links from Nissan, Dodge, Toyota, Honda, Ford, Chevy fill the screen.

A number of these links are owned by one of two types of companies. One sort generates leads that can be sold to local auto dealers. The other is the dealerships or manufacturers themselves. Each of the pages will have content specifically regarding extended-bed, four-wheel- drive trucks. Visitors are much more likely to click on something on one of these sites than they would if they had been steered towards the manufacturer’s main website to begin their search.

These landing pages can be developed to aid your sales efforts and provide better qualified leads. They can be developed for any industry or sector, after all, all companies make money by selling something to someone. You can help your target market find you by steering them to your landing pages and launch the sales process from there. Ask an outside firm, often the same one that manages your website, to create and manage these landing pages. The testing and refinement of these pages in response to analytical data can take time but it is well worth it.

Finding a good partner
The key word here is partner. Don’t work with just any vendor, work with a company that will take an interest in your operation and truly partner with you. You’ll know the right ones. They’ll be focused on your goals, metrics, performance indicators and marketing and sales processes. Your first meeting will focus more on your company and its goals rather than its available budget and previous spending.

Having the right team in place is critical to success, especially in an economy like the current one, which is facing numerous challenges. Create the greatest return on your marketing efforts by working with a firm that isn’t involved in a specific medium, but can create and execute campaigns that use a multitude of mediums. This will ensure that they have an unbiased opinion of where you should invest your marketing dollars and create the greatest return on your investment. SLDT