I recently gave a bit of advice to a potential client. I frequently give free advice directly to people as a way to let people know that I’m confident in the value my services offer. After sending it out I thought I should share some of it.

From my perspective there are three main entry points into the world of social media for major brands that are currently on the outside looking in. I’m talking about official entry for the brand and not just an employee or some paid stringer setting up a MySpace or Facebook account.

Association
Organizations may enter the world of social media by creating associations with existing communities and content producers. These associations may result in sponsorships of select blogs and podcasts or campaigns and promotions geared towards communities that represent the appropriate target demographic.

Publishing
Organizations have the option of entering the conversation with their own branded presence via a blog, podcast or mixed media channel. In this instance, representatives of the organization dedicate time to creating content, publishing content and interacting with the community at large.

Community Building
Involves the creation and management of a system that allows users to create a profile, interact with other users and submit content to the community. This type of initiative requires a significant amount of planning prior to launch and a great deal of management once launched.

One could certainly argue that I’m missing a lot of potential techniques. Sure, a brand could weigh in by joining other communities or leaving comments on blogs. I’m talking about a brand saying, “We’re here!” This is only a small portion of the advice that I gave but I think it is a very important part of it.