Get Free Marketing, Publicity in Down Market

Status is everything: One unobtrusive way to talk up your company or a new product or service is to update your status on Facebook or fire off a Twitter "tweet." Says Twitter co-founder Biz Stone: "Imagine a local coffee shop inviting customers to follow them on Twitter via SMS. At 11:30 a.m. each day, they could send out today's lunch special just when folks are starting to get hungry. For a business that does not exist online, it would be a savvy way to pack the house."

Don't give up: It's not enough just to set up a profile. You have to devote some time to keeping it up to date. The Internet is all about getting new information fast. So update that status report often. Fire off a tweet once a week. "The most common mistake people make is they lose interest," says Michael Schneider, founder and CEO of Fluidesign, a Los Angeles-based interactive design and branding company.

Take up less time by buying a smart phone, many of which now have applications that allow you to do it all while you're walking between meetings.

Join the revolution or be left behind: If you don't start managing your company's identity, someone else will. It could be a disgruntled customer who rants on Twitter. It could be an I-hate-X-company club on MySpace. "Whether you're part of the conversation is up to you," says Powell. "If you start Googling your name and an interview you gave five years ago that you're not proud of is the first thing that pops up, it's your responsibility if you want to succeed to start seeding the real message about you."

Not surprisingly, Schneider's Fluidesign wants to help companies manage their social-media reputation. For a fee, which will be based on your company's size, his staff will monitor social media for any mention of your business, help you craft a response, and help you build micro-sites for new products and services.

The price is right: Unlike traditional marketing and publicity, using social media is free -- for now. It doesn't cost a cent to join, just your time. But if you truly believe time is money, then it's time well spent. According to Stone, Dell(DELL) announced it made $1 million in sales through Twitter messages alone.

And frankly, the more you socialize online, linking and providing value to others, the higher you can get on search engines like Google. The best thing: You didn't have to pay an SEO expert to do it.

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