by Mike Dubrall, Gilwell Group

Social media is big. Really big. If you doubt me, goggle it and you will get more than 100 million hits in less than a second. Already, there are thousands of web sites blogging about social media and hundreds of web services measuring it, and an unlimited number of consultants trying to help clients with it. Most important, there are more than 300 million users of social media tools. And these numbers will continue to grow because there are compelling reasons for using social media at every level of the value chain.

Today, when you look for a job, employers check the obvious social media spaces for information about you. The same thing happens when you are working on a big sales opportunity with a reseller or when you are trying to set up a meeting with an important decision-maker. These people want to see who they are dealing with and they make quick judgments based on your ability to effectively represent yourself on-line.

Moreover, it takes time to build your presence to the point that its actually impressive enough to get you the deal, job, or meeting that you need. At the point anyone is interested enough to Google you, it's too late to update your profiles or open a Facebook account. Your social media presence must already be in place.

Here are five basic steps channel managers can take right away. (Hint: send them off to your resellers and take the steps together.)

1. Get a good and current digital photo of yourself. No one wants to see your prom picture or an old photo of you in a suit. But everyone does want to see what you look like when they check your profile in LinkedIn or read one of your postings/comments in a favorite group. Your social media photo is the new "handshake" and people draw many conclusions from it. (Some experts call your picture a "personal brand.")

2. Bring your LinkedIn profile up to date.

• Add your picture and fill in your employment history.
• Search on the names of your last two companies and find everyone you know - then add them to your network.
• Find at least one Group to join (I recommend the "Channels of the Future" Group).
• Get your best friends to write a recommendation - and return the favor.

Wouldn't hurt to do the same thing on Facebook or MySpace. Employees of the fastest growing IT resellers also use LinkedIn and either Facebook or MySpace on a regular basis.

3. Create a Google Alert to follow the topics that are most important to you and your channel partners. You can follow as many key words as you want, so include the name of your company, biggest resellers, products, and competitors. Sometimes you have to experiment with the key words until you get good data, but it's all free. This will lead you to the most active and relevant on-line communities.

4. Bookmark the top five blogs or communities in your space. Resellers and Customers regularly read important blogs by industry luminaries and experts -like the company CEO , the head of the Reseller Council, or the CEO of a major distributor. (You can also set up an RSS feed from these blogs so you get updates and can potentially forward them to your top partners quickly.)

5. Commit yourself to at least one post or comment a day. If you read a blog by a reseller, post a positive message at the bottom. If you visit a Forum discussing an interesting question, weigh in with your opinion. If you are in a partner community, be as visible as possible. (Don't try to sell anything - just contribute something useful.)

Being a social media couch potato is no longer an option for successful and upwardly mobile channel managers. Get active and take control of your on-line presence before it's too late. Social Media is not going away!

If you are already active in social media, do you have advice for other channel managers?

Mike Dubrall is the Community Director of the Gilwell Group "Channels of the Future" Community. He is a regular blogger on social media and its impact on channel relationships.