21st century technology has given us the tools to connect with millions of people all over the world, without spending a lot of money and without having to be a communications or technology expert.

You can blog, you can create Web sites, you can contribute to forums and social media communities.

You can subscribe to a ten-week e-tutorial on 21st-century marketing.

What do you need to do all this? An Internet connection, a halfway decent computer, a few resources for things like cheap professional photography.

Oh, and there's one more thing that comes in handy:

Way back in the 1980s, a lot of folks put the idea out that writing was dead. (Of course, they did this with . . . writing.) As the theory went, we were devolving into a kind of medieval society that only knew how to look at images, except instead of stained-glass windows in cathedrals, we got our pictures from flashy television ads.

But some of us could see something different. There was something new called the Internet. It was just words back then, no World Wide Web. But we could see how powerful those words could be. They moved people to action. And a single writer, if she was good enough, could move hundreds, then thousands of readers.

It was obvious that some day we'd be able to easily reach millions of human beings all over the world.

Becoming a strong writer isn't all that easy. Learning to write well is like learning to play music well. It takes time and dedication, and the knack comes easier to some than others. But any of our lives (and businesses) can be enriched by learning something about the craft and art of writing.

Then back in 1999, just when we thought we had a handle on this Internet thing, we had another smart bomb dropped on us by the inimitable Seth Godin. He neatly pointed out all the stuff that was happening almost too quickly to see.

We were being overwhelmed by sales messages, so we started to tune them out. Tivo let us skip over TV commercials. And we had a "mental Tivo" that filtered out the rest.

Godin reminded us we could actually entice people into wanting to hear from us. But we had to provide something of value, we had to provide it up front, and we might want to give some of it away for free. We had to create relationships with customers, and that conversation went both ways.

We didn't talk at our customers any more. We engaged with them.

Godin talked about turning strangers (in other words, the entire world) into friends, then friends into customers, then customers into crazy loyal fans who tattoo your logo on their foreheads. Or at least their biceps.

I'm an excellent writer, project manager, and team leader.

I've delivered exceptional results for the company I work with now. I led a tiny team to create a customer communication program that helped generate intense customer loyalty. It took us a little less than a year to climb to 47% referral and 94-96% customer satisfaction rates, and we've held steady there for about three years.

Now I'm looking for a fabulous new company to help grow. My special areas of focus are relationship marketing and new social media. Drop me an email!

Click here to download a PDF resume (26.5K)

The theories are exciting and cool, but what does all this translate to?

Here are a few of the easier possibilities.

(Don't get too stressed if someone is already doing one of these in your business space. You're always going to have competition. Find a niche, find an angle, or just find a unique voice. Find a way to do it cooler and better.)

Print or email newsletters. They have to be interesting and they have to be good. They can't be self-serving (or at least be subtle about it). But well-written information that benefits your customers will create warm-chocolate-cookie feelings that help customers like you, trust you, and enjoy buying from you.

Blogs. Once again, they have to be interesting and they have to be good. What could you riff on every day that would help your prospects and customers? If you're a real estate agent, could you start a blog on relocating to your city?

Articles and tip sheets. There might not be something new to say every day about your business—that's ok. Think about publishing useful articles. If you're a tire store, how about a free PDF (downloadable from your web site) on everything there is to know about snow tires?

Static Web sites. There's still a place for these! You don't need to be a developer or an expert to build a strong Web presence. Click the Contact Me link below my picture (upper left side of the page) if you want to throw around some some ideas!

Squidoo lenses! Squidoo can be a powerful tool to make your other marketing materials work harder. They're easy to build—but solid content and a few special tricks will make them much more effective. Contact me if you'd like some help beefing up your lenses!

Plant a Web garden. You can use a variety of Web 2.0 sites to circulate your content around the Internet. This is a great strategy to support a static site (always link back to your own site, if you have one) and generate lots of Google goodness. Click here to see a blog post I made recently on tending a Web garden.

These are some of my favorites. Let me know about yours in the guestbook below!

Copyblogger
www.copyblogger.com
I was a fan of this A-list blog for about a year before I became fortunate enough to start writing for them. Solid content and good writing advice, with a focus on writing commercially viable content for the Web. An important resource for anyone interested in 21st-century marketing.

Seth's Blog
http://sethgodin.typepad.com
I get more ideas from Seth's blog than I can possibly use, which is kind of great.

Common Errors in English
~brians/errors/">www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/
Not a blog, but an immensely useful reference site when you're trying to figure out if it's backward or backwards, and whether it's ok to use the word impactful.

Merriam-Webster online
www.m-w.com
A very handy resource. This site is free, or you can subscribe to the excellent Collegiate dictionary online for $15 a year, which I think is a terrific bargain.">

I have a strict policy of only doing what I'm great at, which is creating powerful marketing writing that helps you get the word out about how wonderful you are.

(Caveat—because I don't believe in lying, you actually have to be wonderful for me to help you. But you just might be wonderful without realizing it—email me and let's figure it out.)

If you'd like help with writing or copyediting your newsletter, blog, or Web site (or help with fancy marketing stuff like positioning and developing your unique value proposition), please get in touch! You can find contact info and a little more about me at remarcom.com. Or you can click the Contact Me link right under my photo at the top left hand of the lens.

I've also started the remarkable communication blog to discuss ways you can form better connections with your customers.

Finally, I invite you to subscribe to a free newsletter on improving your communication. It starts with a ten-part marketing tool kit to create marketing communication that is more personal, relevant, remarkable and powerful.

I absolutely never sell or rent my email list, and I won't spam you to death, either. Cross my heart.

Want more ways to reward the great lenses you find on Squidoo? Check out lensroll.com, a "Digg"-like site just for Squidoo lenses. You can "roll" your favorite lenses and find great new stuff that other readers have voted for.

If you think this lens is rollworthy, Click here to go right to it on lensroll.com.

Whether or not you roll this lens, check out lensroll.com to find great lenses and recommend great lenses.