This week, Mia’s column addresses the hesitation that some business owners have about integrating social networking into their public relations strategy.

She writes: “The idea of putting yourself and your products on display for uncensored, uncontrolled commentary may seem scary – but if it’s done right, the benefits are staggering.”

In the column, Mia features a truly inspiring entrepreneur: Hana Zalzal, president and founder of the globally successful CARGO Cosmetics. Zalzal has found innovative ways to use social networking tools such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to seek product feedback and improve customer loyalty, fully inviting her customers to “co-parent” the CARGO brand.  Even more uniquely, Zalzal personally checks each and every post on her company Facebook page.

“As business leaders, our companies and our brands are so important to us,” writes Mia. “We engage advisory boards, conduct surveys and hold focus groups to ensure we’re on the right track. Social media has taken public engagement to the next level: with a bit of investment and a solid strategy, much stronger relationships with our customers are right at our fingertips.”

Check out her column every Thursday in the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business.

Over the past year, we’ve all seen some incredible PR campaigns harness the power of social networking. This week, Mia’s column talks about Facebook and Twitter, and how social networking can be successfully used as a marketing tool by businesses both big and small. Mia highlights Stephen Beckta’s popular Ottawa restaurant Play Food and Wine, and how Play’s team has found innovative ways to use social networking to not only drive traffic to restaurant, but also enhance service and make their fans and followers feel like they are a part of the restaurant’s day-to-day operations.

Check out her column every Thursday in the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business.

Microsoft Canada recently conducted a survey that examines how Canadians are using the Internet and their favourite social networking sites. The survey revealed that on average, we have about seven different personal profiles but most aren’t managing these effectively –putting their online identities at risk.

The survey results took me back to my time at Carleton University when I studied journalism. Armed with a Hi-8 video camera, another student and I decided to make a documentary that examined how the “World Wide Web” would affect television journalism. I’m sure if I could find a VCR to watch this groundbreaking exposé again, we would find it quaint in retrospect.

Back then, the media were still calling the Internet the “Information Superhighway ”. While I don’t think we had the vision to imagine the mechanics of YouTube, Facebook or Twitter , our documentary concluded that the Internet would make the news more democratic; new “prosumer ” technology such as DVD camcorders would make it more accessible for consumers to tell their own stories and the Internet would make the nightly newscast more interactive.

Ten years later, social networking sites have made consumers their own broadcasters. Cell phones with advanced photo and video capabilities have made the user the paparazzi. The ethical standards and editorial filters of traditional journalism are ignored online. As a result, individuals most now think of their online identity or persona in the same way a marketer would manage their corporate brand.

Like it or not, it’s the same for companies. Businesses are finally beginning to realize that if you are not online someone else is in control of the message. Are you happy with the results people get back when they input your name in a search engine? Are you effectively monitoring what bloggers are saying about you? Are you reviewing and looking to implement social media analytical tools to measure and manage your online identity?

If not, why not?