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Having an online presence and being an online presence are not the same thing. Unlike baseball diamonds in cornfields, building a website doesn't ensure they (users) will come. For a brand to have this kind of presence online, it requires active efforts developing online visibility and cultivating a position of online influence among the brand's target consumer base. Developing this online status requires a brand to know how to connect with its consumer base in a variety of ways. To help brands gain this understanding, LFI University opens 2010 with a full range of features that shed light on building visibility and influence.

The new year starts with a pair of Team Perspectives focusing on how a brand can both find and engage online communities. We'll also feature LeapCasts that discuss how a brand gets to be heard in the crowded social space and how to be personal and connect with users to make sure they will like what they hear. Rounding out the month will be an Interactive Tips e-newsletter discussing how brands can talk with users already interested in what the brand is offering.

February will provide insight about how brands can be found by potential customers as they search online. The month's Interactive Tip revolves around developing a focused approach for selecting key terms. The Team Perspectives will offer a one-two punch of advice on how brands can expand their online content and then what steps they should take to target search engines to ensure that all their content can be easily found by consumers. February also offers LeapCasts discussing a new measure of search engine rank and the options available to brands via mobile, local, and shopping searches.

The final month of the quarter focuses on public relations. LeapCasts about using social media for public relations efforts as well as using the media to help assist a brand's PR efforts will be presented. There will also be Team Perspectives sharing some expertise about how to work with opinion influencers like bloggers and reporters and about how to establish a brand newsroom to manage a brand's news cycle. The March Interactive Tip will explain the real value that can be received from effective public relations.

Each month with also feature the Interactive Trends newsletter highlighting news from around the online world. And the quarter will finish with the publication of the latest edition of Logic + Magic, which will focus on even more need-to-know subject matter related to establishing and building a brand's online visibility and influence.

Let 2010 be the year your brand's online presence becomes more prevalent and widespread than ever before. Take advantage of all the resources that LFI University has to offer to shape an interactive marketing strategy to achieve the kind of brand awareness you want.