Thinking about creating a social media presence for your brand? Consider these common-sense approaches:

• Less selling - Try to pull people into what you're saying by creating useful content, rather than commandeering their attention with a commercial message interruption.
• Listen to what's being said - People have a very powerful voice. So if that voice says negative things about your company, you would be wise to enter into that conversation to ensure your side of the story is heard. Google Alerts, BackType and TweetBeep are all free services that aggregate what is being said about keywords of your choice.
• Learn from it - While listening to what's being said, don't just run damage control. Actually use this insight to your advantage. It's like a gigantic and free focus group.
• Define your purpose - Rather than rushing to make use of all of the new social media technologies available, put the technologies aside for a moment and think about what you're trying to accomplish. You wouldn't get a tool before you know what it is you want to fix, would you?
• Have a personality - People are more engaged by opinions and personality than corporate fluff. Don't be afraid to allow your brand to have a personality even if it doesn't rub everybody the right way; it's far more likely to be engaging.