Yes, Debra, great point. This technique works with a lot of different things, including:

- newly passed legislation that goes into effect down the road ( 6 months from now when the law goes into effect, they will be reading your analyses and reference materials);

- advance book reviews

- new product releases

- hurricanes that are brewing (I remember one student who wrote about Katrina in advance as the storm was developing, and whose site then became a center for Katrina-related news)

You can even do it in a small way repeatedly with getting the scoop with embargoed press releases of news in your niche, if you develop relationships with PR firms.

The list goes on.

The results can be a nice small bump in traffic -- or phenomenal as Jackie's experience with the horse site shows.

Anita Campbell
Small Business Trends
"Small business success ... delivered daily"

Jennifer, as usual you make some great points. Personally, I think Social Media is 90% hype and 10% value. Jill Whalen recently said something along the lines of SM isn't new it is just what we called community in the past or "building community". I think the best approach for small business is to figure out what parts of Social Media fit with their site and do it themselves! For instance YouTube could be used to collect topical vids from users posted to YouTube and displayed on the site. There is a growing list that says promotion on SM sites has little payback in $. When Google writes off the mySpace spend as likely not material that says a ton about the payback. How many bizs can take that time away from the biz and see no return. No, it either has to be fulfilling on a personal level or be paying back with $'s.

The real value from SM is in branding and visibility. IMO, for small biz this is usually not a luxury they can afford or need to have as a priority. The money and time is often better used in other places. Don't do it because you feel you have to, to be cool. Do it because it works for you in achieving a goal. In short have a plan... and work the plan.

Terry Van Horne
desme
Chicago website design firm.

I do follow over 200 people, but follow is a very general term. There are several people on twitter I pay close attention too, and others that I only see what they have to say when I happen to be on. My visits to twitter have been very infrequent. As a Small Business owner, I have a difficult time finding time to chat with everyone, but i love to see a few who I consider Tweet Friends around when I happen to get some time.

It can be difficult though, it is still very "clicky", and can be tough to communicate in any conversational mode with people following more than 50 users who only see you once in a blue moon. But that's just the nature of the game. Like anything in life, you get back what you put into it, no more no less. so it is all about your intent.

Craig Sutton
BrightWeb Marketing
Solutions to fit your goals - and your budget.

I think the tendency to obsess will depend on what's at stake for most people. If the stakes are huge and you're in a fiercely competitive arena, then it pays to obsess not just over google but also over getting your website right in all other respects. The pursuit of one objective (eg rankings) doesn't need to be at the expense of another (eg delighting your customers) so achieving all the objectives will provide the highest pay off. This year's olympic winner of the 100m sprint on the track will be obsessive about every aspect of his preparation from his shoes to his diet to his room security.

Ewan Kennedy
AdJuice
Internet Marketing Solutions

Hi all,

Local.com works well my clients here on the east coast. Many local newspapers in this area power their local listings via local.com - the client kind of gets a "two for one" for being listed there.

Patti Fousek
CreativeMind Search Marketing
Boston Search Engine Optimization and Social Media Strategies

Great Article, I admit I clicked on your article to find out how to go viral, but found something even more inspiring.... the truth.

Calvin Cox
Styleapple
Creative Design With an Emphasis on Internet Marketing and Effective Portfolio Design