Social media is everywhere. It's new and shiny and everyone is trying to figure out how to use it, talk about it, and make money from it. However, once we put aside the hype, it becomes clear that social media is simply an evolution in how we communicate. It does not replace traditional marketing and communication, but rather augments it and breathes new life into what we do.

One great way to blend social media into your existing framework is to extend your website and make it more "socially aware". Your company website is your information hub and should be a high-quality, interactive source for constituent engagement. However, many websites need to be upgraded to extend the organization's reach into the social space, as well.

Here are some ways your next website can utilize connections to social media:

1. Include a company blog on your website. Your company blog should be integrated into your website, not hosted somewhere else or worse, on a free blogging service. It needs to be hosted under your domain name to maximize your search engine visibility and needs to follow your organization's branding. A blog also gives you a platform of content to publish on other networks. Publish high-value articles that educate and position your company as an industry leader.

2. Add a Twitter feed to your home page. By placing your Twitter activity on your website, you are allowing others to see real-time updates on your events, news, and announcements that you can update externally from other sources, like your mobile device. This also allows visitors to subscribe to your communication channel via Twitter.

3. Use Ping.fm to distribute content. By connecting your website content to Ping.fm, you can automatically push out news, events, blogs, and other content to social networks. This ensures that your content comes from a single, central location and is then distributed across many networks.

4. Include RSS options for all dynamic content. Make sure that your blog, events, news, and other dynamic content can be syndicated via RSS to make it easy for visitors to stay in your communication channel or publish your content on other sites.

5. Show the faces of real people in your organization. Many corporate websites shy away from displaying information about employees. However, today's customers are interested in real people. Create a directory of key employees and provide links to email addresses, LinkedIn profiles, Facebook profiles, and Twitter accounts. Make it easy for customers and prospects to engage in conversations with your team. This builds trust.

6. Make sure your blogs, articles, and other landing pages publish correctly on social networks. This means that your code should be structured so that the proper image or logo appears when the content is shared on Facebook, and the right content blurb appears so that the preview is informative. This may involve an upgrade to your website structure.

7. Link back to your website from all other social profiles. This should be obvious but it is often overlooked. Be sure that your website link appears everywhere you have a social presence so that all traffic is driven back to your information hub. Also, make sure your social profiles are designed to match the branding on your website.

When creating your next website, be sure to make it socially aware so that you extend your points of capture into social networks and maximize your permission-based followers.

E-commerce has been around for a while now and to most of us, it is a normal way of shopping and purchasing products. However, I occasionally encounter someone who is uncomfortable using a credit card online. I’d like to clear up some misconceptions and provide some insight into what happens when you use a credit card online and why it’s safer than using your credit card at a gas pump.

First off, keep in mind that when you buy something online with a credit card, your credit card number is typically not ever seen by a human. When you type in your credit card number, you are entering it into a page that is encrypted so that even if someone were electronically eavesdropping, he/she would not be able to acquire the number. Once you click the “buy” button, the order information, along with your credit card number, is sent directly through an encrypted connection to a merchant gateway (like Authorize.Net) which checks the validity of the card, available funds, and tests for fraud. If all goes well, the transaction is complete and the money is batched to go from your credit card to the bank account of the merchant from which you purchased. All this happens within seconds and with no human intervention. As you can see, there is really no realistic opportunity for anyone to see your credit card number.

Contrast this with other ways that we use credit cards every way. We swipe our credit cards at gas pumps which leaves us vulnerable to skimming. We hand our credit cards to servers at restaurants, which leaves us vulnerable to anyone in the back of the restaurant with a camera phone. We withdraw money at ATMs, which leaves us vulnerable to both skimming and photo espionage. There are so many times that we offer up our credit card number in the physical world that are much riskier than purchasing online. Yet, sometimes we feel that buying online is mysterious and scary and so we feel unsafe. Purchasing online is typically much safer than a physical card purchase.

Remember that when your credit card is swiped at a store or restaurant, it’s going through exactly the same type of network as it does on the Internet. The only difference is that in a store or restaurant, a human gets to see your credit card number. Which sounds safer?

Some things to look out for when purchasing online:

1. Look for the “s” in “https://”. If you are on a secure site, the address in your location bar at the top will start with “https://”. Notice the “s”.

2. Make sure you trust the website. Amazon, Zappos, and Apple are all big companies with trustworthy websites. Buying from ugly, mom and pop websites that look like they were designed by your neighbor’s 5-year-old may not be all that safe. Make sure you have some level of trust with the merchant. Feel free to call them and ask how they handle e-commerce and what gateway they use.

3. Use a credit card, rather than a debit card. This ensures that if theft does occur, you are not liable for it and it does not deplete your bank account.

Though purchasing online may seem a little scary to some, it’s actually much safer than physical card purchases. If your credit card number is stolen, it’s much more likely that it occurred at a gas pump, restaurant, or through documents in your trash. Remember to shred often, be cautious about where you use your card, and look for the signs of a secure transaction and you will minimize your chances of being a victim.

As 2009 wraps up and we look toward the new year, it’s nice to re-evaluate plans for the upcoming year and use the holiday downtime to focus on some initiatives for 2010. I know that the holidays are a great time for vacations but it can also be a great time to work on high-level strategic items, such as business plans, marketing strategies, and processes. It’s also a good time to make some personal commitments about what you will do differently to build your business.

Here are 5 marketing tools that are becoming more relevant all the time. I would encourage you to take a serious look at these tools and decide for yourself if they can help you grow your business.

1. Blogging. Though blogging is not new, it is still uncomfortable to most people. Nobody wants to take the time to blog on a consistent basis and no one knows what to write about. Well, that may be true but at the same time, nobody wants to take out the trash, either, but it must be done if we want to run a tidy business (or household). Blogging is a fantastic way to improve search engine rankings as well as build authority. It gives you a platform for producing re-usable content, visibility, and expertise. It helps build trust with your audience and also is a great personal development vehicle. If you prefer not to write, consider a ghost blogger.

2. Twitter. Out of the big three (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn), Twitter is still the social network that is the scariest and strangest to most people. I encourage you to do whatever you can to get over it. Twitter is an incredibly powerful tool for communication, lead generation, and research. I see referral opportunities almost every day on Twitter that most businesses aren’t even aware of. Pick up a copy of Kyle Lacy’s “Twitter for Dummies” book or attend a SpinWeb Twitter Seminar to learn how to get started. Just don’t be scared. You can grow your business with Twitter.

3. SlideShare. I love SlideShare and I think it is an under-appreciated gem in social media. SlideShare allows you to post your presentations online and share them with others. It also allows you to create a profile to give more information about yourself, and it also allows you to capture leads from viewers. Posting your presentations online is a fantastic way to build your platform of content and authority. Many of my speaking engagements have been facilitated by my use of SlideShare to clearly publish my presentation content.

4. GoToMeeting/GoToWebinar. Going a step further than SlideShare, GoToMeeting and GoToWebinar allow you to give live demos and presentations to people anywhere in the world on an almost unlimited scale by sharing your screen with your audience. Though I prefer in-person presentations, when it’s not possible or practical to travel these tools allow you to remove geography from the equation and present your content to a huge audience from varied locations. This allows you to build your authority, reach new prospects, and capture qualified leads. It also allows your sales team to deliver rich web-based demos to anyone in the world. If you become comfortable hosting web meetings and webinars, you will open up a whole new opportunity for marketing your business.

5. Your website. Ok, so business websites are not as new as some of the other tools listed here but I have to include it because I am constantly surprised at how often organizations neglect their own websites. Your website is your primary information portal and should be an investment that supports your marketing efforts and goals. It should be well-designed, well-planned, and should have the right tools in place for your organization and your audience. An outdated, poorly-designed, or poorly-managed website is absolutely unacceptable in 2010. Make the investment in a great website.

Make 2010 a year of positive change and new ideas. Step out of your comfort zone and build your business with some tools and methods and you may not have tried before. If you have any other tools that you would like to suggest, please feel free to leave a comment here. I would love to hear what you think.