Be careful

Web 2.0. social media, and new media marketing are today's "in" words. You can tell by how many self-help books on these subjects are coming to market. They all provide powerful marketing and advertising tools and every company should seriously consider these approaches.

JUST BE CAREFUL! Using these techniques should be configured, designed, and implemented as business tools. They need to be integrated into your existing marketing and advertising programs to expand and improve their cost-effectiveness and message-effectiveness. They need to be crafted so that you stay focused and are properly telling your story.

When seeking professional assistance in how and when to use these new tools, make sure you utilize a firm that has the technical, creative design, and marketing experience - NOT someone who has bought a few self-help books and their experience is mainly spending a lot of time on their personal Facebook, Twitter, or Flickr accounts building their personal social circle.