Are you trying to promote your business, special event, or a new product? Say, for example, you’ve secured a new patent for a stain remover to get grape jelly out of clothes? (If you did, call me – I need a sample!). Of course, you’ve probably already developed clear messaging and a plan of attack for getting the word out via various public relations (PR) initiatives, such as an optimized social media press release, digital media kit, and a succinct 140 character tweet, right? Tweet? Yes, tweet, as in the latest social media 2.0 craze of twitter.com and definitely a place your grape jelly stain remover must debut at.

Chances are, you've heard the terms "social media," "web 2.0" or even "RSS feed" at some point recently. Maybe you've heard about them, but still aren't exactly sure what they mean and why you should care. Arguments for and against twitter’s value can be found at just about every blog and social network site, PR and marketing conference, and boardroom meeting. The jury is still out for many. But, ask Motrin or your friends at the peanut butter companies what they think about twitter and I bet you’ll find they monitor it very closely.

In addition to promotional efforts such as press releases, search engine optimization, and banner advertisements, organizations are leveraging tools such as LinkedIn, Facebook, twitter, and online press release distribution optimization services to increase product exposure and target a specific demographic. Video clips, news, and pictures can be released through social networking sites in order to gain brand equity and increase product awareness.

If you're thinking about utilizing social media or other Web 2.0-like services, or you want to look into the public relations and communication possibilities available to your organization, the first place to start is by looking at the big picture and to understand the lingo.

PR 2.0: Refers to the transformation of public relations resulting from the network effect of the Internet. Marketing 2.0 represents a dramatic shift in marketing to account for customers researching and buying goods and services independent of advertising and marketing campaigns and messages. Traditional media may be used in PR 2.0 - online and offline. Examples of PR 2.0 vs. PR 1.0 include: digital press kits vs. direct mail, webinars vs. seminars, and social media and keyword optimized press releases vs. standard press releases.

Social Media: Wikipedia defines Social Media as 'the online tools and platforms that people use to share opinions, insights, experiences, and perspectives with each other. Social media can take many different forms, including text, images, audio, and video. Popular social mediums include twitter, blogs, message boards, podcasts, wikis, and vlogs.' Websites like del.icio.us, digg, YouTube, and newsvine are examples of new channels to reach an online audience. These types of sites serve as portals to people everywhere and are delivering media in the form of pictures, blogs, video clips, and feeds. By understanding how these sites work, you can leverage them to reach more people in more markets.

Twitter: Growing in popularity every day, twitter is an online social network where you sign up to ‘tweet’ what you’re doing in 140 characters or less. As a business person, you may tweet about a special promotion, offer, or new product release, and keep track of trends and what other people are tweeting about your organization. People re-tweet (RT) other messages and tag keywords with a ‘#’ for optimal searchability. For example, #Global #Communicator publishes 79th issue and covers #social #media and #twitter.

Online networking: From the fun and viral “Fan pages” at Facebook to the business endorsements at LinkedIn, online networking sites help you stay in touch, find new employees or business contacts, and share your life with the world. Remember that what you post here will remain here and can be shared/viewed by others. Professionalism and keeping track of the brand consistency and messaging are key in today’s business environment. Depending on the size of your company, it might already be someone’s full-time gig.

The Blog: The blog (stands for "web log") is another new form of communication that has caught the eye of the marketing world and is regularly used as a tool to garner attention for a company. The blog is a journal of sorts that is authored by a person and is an outlet for thoughts, opinions, and news. Used wisely, the blog is a great tool on many fronts. However, blogs are easily linked to and spread to others. There are many free sites out there that have templates built in and are very easy to get started blogging. A few popular ones are Blogger, Blog.com, and Blogstream. Look for our blog announcement, ONE STOP GLOBAL, in the next issue’s News section.

RSS Feeds: RSS or "real simple syndication" allows your website visitors to subscribe and read your content in RSS newsreader software. Whenever the web page is updated the newsreader will automatically display the new item. Some news readers are programs that are downloaded and installed on a computer and others are web-based services that can be accessed via a web browser.

Webinars and Podcasts: Two other forms of Marketing 2.0 that should not be ignored are webinars and the podcasts. Using a webinar to promote a new product or service is a great way to offer an interactive format for journalists to use. Imagine the benefit of offering a webinar instead of a conference or event where the attendees have to physically attend. Also with a webinar, your material lives on much longer than just the day of the event. Media and customers alike can access your presentations for as long as you make it available. The podcast was originally intended to turn website content into audio content that is downloaded onto an iPod. What makes podcasting special is that it allows people to publish (podcast) radio shows that interested listeners can subscribe to. Consumers can choose when and where they listen to your information.

So, what is your story? Take some time to think about how you can promote your story with these powerful social media PR tools. Whatever your story shapes up to be, you need to perfect it in multiple formats, including the optimized press release, summary e-mail announcement, Facebook feed, and 140 characters with the appropriate #words #tagged for optimal searchability. Then, once you think you have perfected your messages, try them out on friends, families, customers, neighbors – whoever will listen. What the try-outs do is get you ready for your interaction with the media and the real social media world. The more practice you have, the better prepared you will be to pitch your brand and sell it.

Taking advantage of the new technology tools available to your business can be a cost-effective way to expand your outreach. It is a new way to think, but once you get used to using these social media tools, your communication efforts will become more profitable and further-reaching. Bottom line, by incorporating social media into your promotional activities you are only limited by your creativity and, perhaps, 140 characters.

If you're interested in finding out more about social media and its role in PR, access this this issue’s Useful Links or Upcoming Events.