How to Market in a World of User-Generated Content

I have always been fascinated on how to position your business amidst the user-generated content business models that have grown in popularity in recent years. iMedia Connection has an article called "Smart Marketing in a Wiki World" that explores how businesses could behave in this wiki world of user content, while skating the fine line of "influencing the message and creating propaganda."

Here are the suggestions:

1. Build trust by being transparent, and disclosure is the key.
2. If you invite user generated content, be sure to publish it even if the talk is critical to your business.
3. Understand what the community thinks of your business
4. If you don't think you can handle what users are saying about your business, it is better to sit on the sidelines than participate in user communities only to become a target of blogs