Time Magazine gave a strong mainstream media endorsement to the proliferation and influence of consumer-generated media when they named 'You' as Person of the Year for 2006. The annual Trust Barometer conducted globally by Edelman also shows that media and 'old-school' authorities have lost ground. We now look to "someone just like me" for Internet marketing strategy information.

How does this affect the practice of PR? Since a large part of PR is about reaching people through the media and opinion leaders, and influencing how they perceive and act, this shift in media consumption and influence is the biggest thing to occur in the last 100 years. It changes where the audience is and how to reach them effectively. It is no longer a push, one- way delivery of controlled information. The conversation predicted by the ClueTrain Manifesto in 1999 is now in full cry. Consumers have found the power of voice. Anyone can publish their opinions and they're in control of the content. They read what they want, when they want it and how they want it.

If you do nothing else in 2007 become aware of these online conversations. Find out who is talking about your company, your product and your industry. Listen to what they're saying. Social media online is just like social interaction in the real world. If you walked into a gathering and a group of people was talking to one another, you wouldn't barge in and start talking about what you do and how great you are. It pays to listen first and then offer some contribution that interests people and adds value to the conversation. And these rules apply even more so online. You no longer have the stage and a captive audience.

How do you listen to online conversations? Learn to use Really Simple Syndication feeds. (RSS) With RSS you can do a search on Google Blogsearch or Technorati.com and subscribe to this search query. Each time a new blog post or comment is added it will be delivered securely to your RSS reader. If you prefer to have the RSS reader on your desktop, download a free reader from PRESSfeed. If you want it online so you can access it from any computer, use one like Bloglines.

Once you realize just how convenient (and addictive) receiving news and information in RSS feeds can be, you'll know why the second thing you have to do in 2007 is RSS enable your own web content. According to Forrester Research RSS enabling your news content is the place to start. While RSS may be very new in South Africa it has shown exponential growth in other countries - 30% of US corporations are RSS enabling their content due to customer demand. As broadband becomes more affordable and widespread, RSS will become part of the new media landscape here too.

Once your news content is in an RSS feed it will be syndicated online and it will attract more traffic and better search visibility, which has been shown to affect brand perception and value.

Once you're tapped into the conversations and aware of what people talk about online, identify the top influencers in your space. Read their blogs and listen to their podcasts. Then formulate a content strategy. Do some keyword research. Find out what people are actually searching for online. Develop a content strategy based on all the data you have gathered. Once this plan is in place you can start to deliver content and join the conversation.

If this is all Greek to you, the most important thing you can do in 2007 is find a new media consultant who has a successful track record with an Internet marketing strategy. These can be treacherous waters. Witness the fake Wal-Mart blogs and the Dell Hell debacle that negatively affected their brand value. You don't want to be the next corporation that gets egg on its face in the Web PR space.

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About the Author

Sally Falkow is President of Expansion Plus, Inc., and author of Website Marketing Strategy Ebook. She is an authority on Internet Marketing and search engine optimization strategies. For more information, visit http://www.expansionplus.com.