“There’s no question, you have to compete for attention and in order to do so effectively and genuinely, you need someone who can help tell your story, the right way, through the people who reach your customers. It’s not an overnight process and it’s not something to “be gamed.” It’s a process of investing in, building and leveraging relationships now and in the long term. And yes, if you do things right, bloggers, reporters, and analysts will want to talk to you about your company and vision along the way.

• Understand You’re Not the Only Story in Town
• Pick the Right Person or Team to Lead PR
• Participation is Marketing
• Identify The Target Audience For Every Step Of Your Growth
• Don’t Launch on Mondays
• No Two Bloggers or Journalists are Created Equal
• Measure Success, Not Traffic
• Customize the News For Each Influencer to Make His Or Her Job Easier
• Get a Spokesperson
• Your Company Blog is More Powerful Than You May Think
• Blogger Relations Extends from the “A-List” to the Magic Middle
• Follow the Conversations and Join In

If you trust your employees you can let them out of their cages and cubicles and empower them to represent your brand in the real world.

They can solve problems, answer questions, entertain and inform.

They can become friends with customers and in short, they can be your pure brand ambassadors or the best ads you ever had.

Of course, this all depends on how brave you are.

Zappos has a great listing of their employees who are on Twitter, proudly displaying their team’s collective thoughts, ideas and comments on just about anything. Rather than hide behind a thin veneer of brand management, they understand that simply allowing their employees to be real people and interact in real ways with customers can have a huge impact on customer service and brand loyalty.

This got me thinking about our own recently redesigned web site at Viget Labs, where a lot of thought went into how we highlight our great team of designers, developers, marketers and strategists. Not only does every person have a full bio and photo, but we also include blog posts we each write on our respective Labs’ blog, link to our personal blogs and also display our Twitter feeds directly on the Viget site.

It’s a bold move by some organization’s standards, but it fits our culture – open and collaborative. And when we get out to events in the community, I find that next to our blogs it’s one of the first things people comment on. They love it. It’s fun, real and memorable. I’m proud to say I get to work with a shop that understands it’s best marketing is simply showcasing it’s own team.