Enter the CommentSphere

More and more traditional/mainstream entrepreneurs are becoming sold on the idea that social media, in some form or fashion, can positively impact their businesses. Once they've made the decision to dive in, the questions start kicking in:

Should I blog?

Should I podcast (ok, what is podcast)?

Should I skip blogging and podcasting and go right to video?

Which social network(s) should I join?

How do I Twitter?

These are all great options that should be explored. Some, like podcasting and video blogging, will take time and effort to get off the ground. Others, like blogging and social networking, could take you a while to build up enough of a following to really cultivate meaningful relationships. And there are a host of other options that haven't quite hit the mainstream, which may mean your target audience may miss your message if you get too far ahead of them.

But one social tool that gets overlooked by many may be the easiest and quickest route to building credibility on the web. Commenting on other popular sites and blogs gets you involved in the conversations already taking place with the movers and shakers. Comments are content too. In fact, comments add an important dimension to other forms of content like blog posts and podcasts. That's because comments can lead to conversations, which could turn into collaborative experiences that can grow into meaningful business relationships.

And if you begin commenting on different blogs across the web, a free service from CoComment.com allows you to keep track of all your comments from one location. So not only can you easily track your comments, but also responses to your comments from across different sites. Plus, you can keep tabs on other CoComment users and their distributed comments, thus growing a community directly from responses. And once you get your blog up and running you can even use CoComment, or other comment management services like Disqus or IntenseDebate, to grow a community around it.

So while you take time to figure out which social tools to invest time and effort in, you can still get started today with your social strategy — by commenting.