There was a great article written by Gini Dietrich (Chief Executive Officer of Arment Dietrich Public Relations) in Franchise Times in the October 2009 issue: Social Media 101 – Newfangled networking only works if it’s not all about you.
In the article, Dietrich discusses the importance of figuring out what your goals are for your social media [communication] program before setting your strategy.
According to statistics on the Socialnomics blog, 78 percent of consumers trust peer recommendations while only 14 percent trust traditional advertisements. And peer recommendations come in all forms—at a weekend soccer game, around the water cooler, and on social networks.
Worth checking out the entire article. Click here to access Dietrich article on Franchise Times.
jgsocialmedia.com 
Thanks Justin! I always liken social media to an online networking event. Just like you wouldn’t walk up to someone, introduce yourself, and start talking about how great you are, you don’t do that online either. Everyone gets all stressed about how to talk on the social networks. Make it easy. Talk like you do in real life. Unless you swear a lot. Then you should tone yourself down.
Could not agree more, Gini! Thanks for writing such a great and informative article!