It’s the beginning of 2010 and like most of you, I receive/review a number of marketing related newsletters, emails and blogs intended to make sure my knowledge of my field is current and up-to-date. Nearly every day, I'm reading something new. Of late, the hot topic has been social media. No less than 3 times a week, I receive an email or see a Linked In posting from a social media expert offering to help me grow my business.

Now, I'm not here to knock social media. Quite the contrary, I believe there's tremendous value in utilizing social media. And after you're finished reading this, feel free to give me an endorsement through your own Linked In, twitter, facebook, StumbleUpon, etc... profile/account/page.

The challenge that I have is this -- very rarely do I see an article that mentions connecting your social media strategy to the larger marketing strategy. Recently, I spoke with a VP at a company that has an interesting blog; a company that I'd love the opportunity to work with. Unfortunately, the blog is not connected to their website nor is there any real mention that the author is a part of the company.

In our initial conversation, I asked what I believed to be a simple question -- "Who are your best customers"? Blank stare. I followed that up with "What customers would be ideal for your business"? Fidgeting and downward stare. Uh, oh…..

They have a wonderful blog. I even followed them on twitter for a while...

Creating a dialogue with customers and prospects should have some connection to the people whom you'd like to have reading and sharing your information. The first step is to think about what you're looking to communicate and more importantly, to whom.