If you’re just getting to the point where you know you’d like to take advantage of the Internet, but aren’t quite sure where to begin, start with an intentional passive approach.

Examples:

Blogs

Sure, you could go start a blog right away, but the better approach might be to take a couple months and get the feel of it from other blogs. See the different writing styles and how the authors manage reader comments. Get the feel of what other blogs are doing, but don’t be afraid to be yourself if/when you decide to start your own.

The next step will be to start engaging with that blog’s author and readers (community) by posting comments on blog posts that interest you.

Here’s a good place to start in finding blogs with a high readership in different areas of interest: technorati.com/blogs/directory

Twitter Search

Even if you already have a Twitter profile, start using the search feature of Twitter to see what other people are saying about your areas of interest – whether it’s your specific brand or industry, you can really take advantage of the information you get on what people are saying. Then after you get comfortable you may decide to start engaging in conversation with the same people talking about your brand or industry.

Start Here: search.twitter.com

Facebook Pages

Again, you probably have a Facebook profile already, but if you’re not already, head over to some pages relating to your industry or customer base. See what the communities on those pages are talking about – and then feel free to engage if you’d like.

The Point

Here’s three – there’s hundreds more. The point is to know it’s okay to start out with a passive approach – learn and get the feel. We’ve all been in a conversation and midway through someone walks in and interject their thoughts, only to find they didn’t really know what was being discussed. It’s worth taking a little time to get the feel.

You’ll also find these passive approaches will be just as important to you after you start taking a more active approach.