The constant punditry about Facebook, Twitter and blogging is dizzying, and, even if you agree with it – and love it, you’re likely just too tired to make it work for your organization. I’ve tried to capture a few of my guiding principles from my own experiences and other folks much smarter than me that may provide some guidance:

Conversation is what matters. Conversation is two-way, old-school marketing is not. Ignore the conversation or fight it at the peril of your business. “Markets are conversations,” decreed The Cluetrain Manifesto, the seminal work of the internet age, in 2000.

Authenticity is key – it makes your side of the conversation work. No one talks to an ad. Know your audience and entertain or educate them. Don’t sell to them. Pay attention to your “voice”.

Focus on the niches. Get specific and demand results.

Conversation can’t exist in a perceived vacuum. Technology can show the user that there’s a human on the other side of the connection.

Content sharing and social distribution can massively increase audience at virtually no cost. Don’t restrict either or you limit your chance for success.

The value of the middlemen is in rapid decline. Syndicators no longer exclusively control their distribution, publishers no longer exclusively control their audiences. Web 2.0 and social media have made it easier to get content directly to an audience.

Success is equal to the degree you adopt openness. Services that enable the creation, sharing, distribution and monetization of content add value.

Don’t build Web sites, build networks. If you’re authentic, focused on the niches and open to openness, you’re in a position to build the network.

Large social network platforms are where your users are, go there. Platforms see the value in the network and extract as little value as possible so they can grow as big as possible. You can extract value for your business at very low cost.

• breathing some fresh air for the first time in a long while. Feels good. Is it too early for a beer? #
• Feeling better. http://twitpic.com/18fpx #

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• wondering if 4-year-olds exist in a different time continuum where they can see us, but we move and talk too fast for them to respond. #

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• Reviewing CMS options for a few sites I help publish. i like wordpress for simples sites/blogs. Anyone used http://www.expressionengine.com #

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Since it’s that time of the year the world pledgets allegiance to Apple, this video seemed perfect, especially for those of us who are frequently caught whispering sweet nothings to our iphones: Macbook Wheel Debuts On The Onion.

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard