As someone who has been *ahem* ‘asked’ to write on various topics, I can appreciate the pressure that new media puts on companies. Traditional media is predictable; pay money, gain access. Release statements quarterly, crafted with your company’s message. Coordinate your ads with your message and the image you hope to portray. Push out positive messages and suppress negative ones. It certainly takes time and effort, but you can reasonably expect your efforts to pay off.

New media is much more unpredictable, it’s hard to maintain a consistent image without fading into the ether. It’s harder,still to control information, good or bad, that can effect your company. While there is a high amount of passion with the participants of new media,  this can lead to a low signal-to-noise ratio. You’re competing with a lot of people out there and if your stuff isn’t interesting, it’ll just be a ripple in the ocean.

The advantage of new media is simple: Access

Anyone with an internet connection can access a blog and make comments, or start a Twitter or Facebook account. With a small investment in web hosting, a person can start his or her own blog. Using content management systems makes updating and managing your message trivial.

The disadvantage of new media is also simple: Access

Since more and more people are participating more and more time to new media, that means that older forms of information exchange are withering away. Sooner or later, If you’re not out there, you’re nowhere. Pretty soon, we won’t submit resumes, HR firms will simply look to LinkedIn. Pretty soon, we won’t have television or radio ads, it’ll be far more economical to buy blurbs on Facebook or Google Ad Words. Newspapers and magazines are already feeling the pinch as Craigslist has sapped up most of their ad revenue, and subscriptions are dwindling. Television is next.

As more and more people get online, the lure of newer/interactive mediums will surpass passive ones. Broadcast television is the next big target, followed by cable. As high speed gets more ubiquitous, who wouldn’t rather watch a show stream on their TV via a home theater PC (HTPC) or some sort of internet connected box that plays only what you want whenever you want to see it? The networks and cable companies understand that. They take tentative steps via services like Hulu so that people can watch TV on their computers. What they fear is that people will start watching what they want on their TV. They take steps to restrict their services from playing on devices that are connected to a television. Pretty soon they won’t have a choice. Look for shows to start appearing exclusively online. “The Guild” did it, “Dr Horrible” did as well.

For a small company, a presence online is critical, and participation in new media is almost mandatory if they want new customers to find them. They have to interact with their customers as well, and try to build communities. They have to draw positive attention to themselves.

A small company with a relatively large new media footprint can reach a lot more potential customers than they used to. For a small company, the rewards far outweigh the risks. A larger company has a reputation to defend, and in many cases, undo. A smaller, newer company can control their message and image a lot easier.

In my opinion, a small company would benefit by having a PR person on speed dial, and a competent designer to unify their image across the board; from print to their website, to new media outlets. They will probably see a greater ROI than traditional or web advertising alone.

But hey, what do I know? I’m a tech guy, a consumer of this new media.

I hope that helps!