• Google Alerts - A comprehensive, news, blogs, web, video and groups search for the keywords you care about at a desired frequency level. If you set them for a daily alert level be prepared to get inundated by results, especially for popular keywords. Trick: put the exact words and phrases you want in parentheses for more targeted results.
  
• Social Mention - this aggregator lets you see how a brand, particular search concept, meme, or news event is interacting online.
  
• Twitter Search - Get human powered search results and find out what are people saying about your brand right now. This engine lets you look up in real-time what people are saying about your provided search query. Something new today catch your eye? Try typing into Twitter Search and seeing what you get back.
  
• TweetBeep - think your brand is building up some serious momentum on Twitter? What about that new product you just released or the blog post your research team just put up? Further manage and track your online reputation by setting up alerts and get pinged every time a tweet gets made in reference of the things you care about.
  
• Technorati - these guys have been the titans of blog search since ...let's see here... oh yea, since blog search was invented. Needless to say, leveraging their search is important for this step.
  
• Back Type - find out what type of comments are being made on blogs involving your brand, or track any of the comments that you are making. You can also use this tool to connect with and follow people across the blogosphere.
  

Once you establish a baseline with these tools you can begin to perform some deeper analysis on the context and tone of mentions about your brand. It is important to have a starting point so you can set milestones for your online goals.

Step 2: Naturally attract Customers and Evangelists using content.

Before planning and executing any sort of proactive outreach make sure you have created some natural magnetism using relevant and quality content. We can't say it much better than the folk's over at Copyblogger with their post "How to Use Content to Find Customers" . Definitely take a read through to learn more. If you are pressed for time here are the three high-level points for success:

1. Get attention with content that is exciting, relevant and that feels special.
   
2. Convert attention into potential customers using persuasive elements
   
3. Create opportunities for further action
   

If you don't already have an active blog in place now would be a great time to set one up and start posting relevant content. If you need some help figuring out how to successfully "launch" a new blog here are some good resources.

21 Sure Fire Tips For Successful Blog Launch
How to Launch a Blog and Have Fresh Content
Blueprint for a Brilliant Blog Launch

Step 3: Create a master opportunity list of the people and places you care about.

Now that you have a quality buzz monitoring you'll want to start tracking the individual users, bloggers, industry thought-leaders and deeply involved customers talking about the things relevant to your brand.

Some things to think about before creating your list:

• How reputable is this individual or information source?
  
• What is their reach? Check their traffic on compete , see how many comments are typically left on their blog , what is the overall sentiment and context of the conversation?
  
• Does the overall positioning, context and environment make sense for further interaction? Don't try to force a square peg into a round hole.
  

Excel is usually a good fit for this or you can use a service like Google Docs to work on the list collaboratively online. When building the list don't be afraid to add some parameters and descriptors so you can tackle it accordingly. At the simplest level include dates, traffic estimates, and as many contact details as you can get. You can get even more detailed by adding context ex. "direct brand mention" or by sentiment "positive post", "negative post" etc.

Step 4: Create a Common Value Proposition (if Possible):

If you had one chance to capture the attention and grab the interest of everyone in your master opportunity list, how could you do it? Whichever tactic you choose it should be in the form of a targeted and well-thought out communication format and if contain a common value proposition.

Do you have a unique offering, announcement or an upcoming event? In this stage of the game it is important to think of a special or exclusive offering as a baseline for further engagement. Don't get confused, this is not a gift or prize to win people over. This is a relevant piece of value or content. Still not sure what your potential offering might be? Here are some ideas:

• Have a product? If yes, this is the perfect value proposition. Better yet, why don't you take that product and include it in a nice mailer with more information and a personalized letter?
  
• Knowledge is Power - write an exclusive whitepaper or presentation for them to use exclusively - and really make it exclusive to them.
  
• Invite - Have an upcoming beta? What about that locked page of your site? How about VIP access to an event you are hosting?
  

Step 5: Lay Out the Ideal Communication Path

Nothing too complicated in this step but this is still important! Now that you have laid out your list in step 3 and created a compelling value proposition in step 4 you are now ready to start planning your communication path. There is no real-scientific approach for this but here are some guiding principles:

1. Your efforts are social, so pick a social medium if possible –if your brand has been mentioned on a blog leave a comment. If you have a presence in Twitter you should follow people talking about you and tweet to them in a similar fashion.. Followup when they reply, remain positive and contribute value to the overall conversation.
   
2. Leave the keys to connectivity - wherever possible make sure you are leaving a cookie trail of further interaction opportunities. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Your Blog, Your Website etc. Provide links to these resources wherever your online presence exists so that you can stay connected.
   

Step 6: Play by the rules for direct outreach and do it right:

Before starting to type make sure you are playing by the rules and ethical guidelines. No need to create these here. The team over at Ogilvy 360° Digital Influence has created a "Blogger Outreach Code of Ethics" - and although it's geared towards blogger outreach email communications it's an important resource for online interaction guidelines in general.

Step7: Monitor the action, use feedback and enhance relationships:

Keep a close eye on the action using the tools from step 1. Are things starting to pick up? How is your outreach being received and reproduced? Take feedback openly, it is the best way to improve and get to know your customers better. Things aren't always going to be perfect and it is better to proactively address them then let them randomly show up on your doorstep.

Re-visit your master opportunity list created step 3. Now you have some real context to act on. Highlight or star the customer who told you they have been using your product for 10 years? Make sure you note that you sent them your additional value piece outlined in step 4. You did send it right?

By engaging with your network you'll create a rhythm that you'll be able to step to as you build your business. Once you know the steps you'll start moving with the changes automatically and you'll be providing a better value you to your customers/clients and they'll be adding value back to your business through feedback and interaction.

We hope that you found these steps helpful. Speaking of connecting, have you checked us out on Twitter or Facebook? Want to connect on an even more personal level? Email or contact us today and learn how we can superpower your online presence.