All buyers want and need to be educated. One of the best ways to do that is making it easy for them to get the information they need to make decisions. Blogs provide an excellent mechanism to do this, especially when paired with other social media tools.

One usually finds that client events are small, intimate gatherings. This is most certainly not the case if you are a client of Omniture, which at this point has solidified its position as the top web analytics firm out there.

Thanks in large part to the growth of social media (see image below), monitoring your brand reputation online is no longer a "nice to have" program but an essential part of any business operation. The benefits of proper monitoring are gained by understanding both positive and negative discussions about your company on the internet. For instance, in the social web 2.0 world, many brand mentions are time-sensitive opportunities for social engagement, whether to strengthen a positive discussion or mitigate a negative PR crisis. Ignoring or delaying an engagement opportunity can have negative impact on your brand's reputation.

*Social Media Growth: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter