We often hear, and it was recently affirmed in the Angerosa Research Foundation's Web 2.0: How Associations Are Tapping Social Media report, that the reason many associations fail to execute social media initiatives is because they lack an internal champion or advocate. The benefits social media can bring to an association are significant and include engaging younger members, creating member interaction, connecting event attendees and driving membership growth. That's why it's so important that someone in your organization becomes your association's social media champion. Here are some tips for how you can become that very important advocate in your organization:

If you are an association or corporate marketer who has decided that 2009 will be your organization's year to join in the conversation taking place on the web, we suggest putting your toe in the water before diving into the deep end. But definitely get wet. Here are five resolutions to get you started:

1. If you haven't already, set up accounts on these services: YouTube.com, Flickr, Twitter, GMail, FaceBook and LinkedIn. In later posts, we'll be discussing each one in-depth, but for now, just make sure you have registered a username that is consistent across all of those services. Also, in later posts, we'll provide you with about 15 other services to register on.