To use the Web 2.0 as a company, you don’t need to instantly start to blog and build up a community. These are the most important tools and facts to remember when using the social web:

Blog-Monitoring

Even though you don’t want anything to do with Web 2.0 - others talk about you using it. Bearing this in mind, you should constantly research your company name in the blog search engine Technorati.com. You can subscribe for the search result as a RSS-Feed.
Your advantage: You get valuable, up-to-date feedback about your company.

RSS-Feeds

Most of the news in Web 2.0 is available like a News ticker as RSS. All RSS-Feeds that are interesting to you are conveniently shown on one page: iGoogle and Netvibes are examples of these personalized news aggregators.
Your advantage: you get all the important news that you need at a glance.

Social Bookmarks

Give your visitors the opportunity to register interesting sites of your website on Mister-Wong and Co.
Your advantage: You obtain more visitors to your site and improve your position in the search engines.

Wikipedia

Your company shouldn’t be missing in the worlds’ biggest online encyclopedia. And when you are in it, follow your entry.
Your advantage: You obtain more visitors and improve your position in the search engines.

Youtube, Flickr & Co

Users spend a lot of time on video and picture platforms. You should enter your company in the search box and check out what is there. Aim to place some of your company’s own videos and pictures.
Your advantage: you provide information for people that selectively search for you.

Weblogs

You should blog when minimum one of the following assumptions is fulfilled:
You have employees that people like to listen to when they talk and who have enough time and an interest in proclaiming their personal views. Or your company is using a casual conversation inwardly and outwardly. In such a company structure, a business blog can be interesting and useful. But if you employees don’t have the courage to write a blog than it would be better to keep one’s hands off it.

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Community and comments

Real social web means that you democratize your company online: everyone is allowed to join in and can proclaim his opinion concerning the products. A rethinking in the company is a very important premise as is the accordant web software.
The “light version” of the social web is a close online forum. Here, you invite customers who are closely connected to your company and whom you trust. In this controlled area the first steps for an open communication can be taken.

By Torsten Schwarz (translated by Laura Veronesi)