By Mary Lower, Guest Author

To some the local media headlines are startling – CBS cuts over 100 on air and production employees, major newspapers are on the selling block or chopping block, and magazines are killing off print versions in favor of online versions. Are these cutbacks simply a direct result of the looming recession? I think that plays a small part in this downsizing trend. However, I strongly believe that these changes are more a reflection of the emerging New Media landscape that has been steadily growing over the past decade.

Social media such as Blogs, Wikis and You Tube, as well as technology such as podcasts, RSS and on-demand news delivery has spoken! The traditional ways news was delivered 20 years ago (pre-Internet) will never be the same.

The rules have changed. If PR and Marketing departments don't adapt to the new rules, they will face growth challenges. The good news is that the New Media provides measurement and analytics not available in the past. Here are five easy steps to take to move forward in the brave new world of Public Relations and Marketing.

1) Start with your Web site

Web sites offer defined analytics and targeted traffic results allowing reports to pinpoint how people are finding your website, how long and how deep they are reading or interacting. Most importantly, a website provides a conversion point that can take a prospect and put them directly in touch with your New Business contact.

Create a place on your site that allows you to post news and events. PR Newswire sells a packaged product called MediaRoom that will do all of the heavy lifting of creating and managing a custom news page. Putting press out via a newswire such as PR Newswire or Business Wire incurs a cost but ensures that search engines and many standard news seeking sites will pick up your release verbatim.

If you have news that is important to your company and industry but may not warrant the expense, but sure that news that is pertinent to our customers, industry and the press is included on your website.

2) Keyword density

Tools such as Google Trends and Keyword Selection Tool help you identify the necessary keywords that allow increased reach in search engine indexing.

Keyword density applies to both print material as well as web content. Ideally all print marketing material such as brochures and sell sheets, should live somewhere on your website for end user ease.

3) Embrace sound and sight

Podcasts (video and audio files) help bring your story to life. This is a small technology investment that speaks more to your company's personality in a society with such a short attention span. Links to podcasts can be embedded into press releases, websites, newsletters and Emails. Using professional actors and voice talent help deliver a polished and memorable message but are not always necessary if c-level executive is properly coached.

Podcasts also help dramatically increase the interactivity or ‘stickiness' of a website - increasing the average time a viewer remains and surfs a website. Concise, keyword dense content is still an essential part of an effective PR/Marketing campaign, but if you can see the young CEO give his state of the union speech or hear the Chief Marketing Officer passionately roll out the newest widget, you will connect with your audience in a more personal way in an increasing impersonal information society.

4) Transform existing video files into basic social and viral media campaigns

The goal is to have your target audience come to you instead of coming to them. Going viral requires a lighthearted approach to your company. Here is an ideal example.

This clip is of a scholarly gentleman that initially created crazy examples of what a Blendtec blender would blend. The company began taking requests and the hits (the glowstick demo is at 2.6 million and the i-pod blending is at 5.1 million) and orders keep coming in. Business has increased 43% on a $400 blender. Not bad for a guy with safety goggles and a passion for demonstration destruction.

5) Blog should not be a four-letter word

Let me clarify - at least a blog that integrates all of your marketing materials! Blogs are an effective resource to drive traffic and create credibility. For example, by spending 5 minutes to register and pick out a template at WordPress, Typepad or Blogger a blog can be born.

According to a 2006 article in the New Yorker, citizen reporters are numbered to be 34% of the 12 million bloggers.

According to David Meerman Scott, author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR, there are three uses of Blogs for Marketing and PR.

• To easily monitor what millions of people are saying about you, the market you sell into, your organization and its products.
• To participate in those conversations by commenting on other people's blogs,
• To being to shape these conversations by creating and writing your own blogs.

I also agree with the author's opinion that starting a blog can be a bit uncomfortable. Future bloggers should follow a bunch of industry blogs before they take the plunge. One can develop and test out his/her blog voice by leaving comments on other people's blogs. When it feels right, start a blog and commit to steady entries.

There are new rules and new technology in today's dynamic and short attention span world. With some education and experimentation, PR professionals can use this technology to increase awareness, establish expertise and in the end, achieve business goals. There are tutorials on You Tube on the basics of Twittering. Best sellers are in the bookstore right now that will guide you thorough and provide rich resource pages of blogs and websites. Traditional media has seen its glory days come and go. How will you integrate the New Media into your PR and business strategy?

Mary Lower is the President and Chief Storyteller at Sterling Cross Communications. Sterling Cross is a Minneapolis based Public Relations, Interactive Marketing & Social Media firm that integrates traditional storytelling with today's technology. She is also the author of the PR Moxie Blog. For more information please visit the Web site .