The lesson that companies need to have a true voice on the web (be it in the form of a blog, audio or video podcast) continues to be learned by companies. As I've watched BP scramble over the last couple of months to engage the public via various sites including Twitter, Facebook and their own website I've thought about how critical it is for those running a business to be ready to make a real connection with their stakeholders. Because if a crisis suddenly occurs or some other news that happens to be positive breaks about your company then people know exactly where to go to find out the truth and discuss the situation.

In the case of BP they might not want the situation with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to be discussed on their own sites. But rest assured that it is being discussed anyway by millions of people. So if there is a discussion occurring then why not host and be a part of at least a portion of it? "The discussions will be very negative," the internal PR exec says. Guess what, they're negative anyway. "The discussions will be heated," says another corporate employee. They're heated anyway folks. The issue goes back to communicating honestly with stakeholders. BP has had to scramble to set up the infrastructure to connect will many stakeholders including the citizens and state governments of the Gulf Coast, the Federal Government, the U.S. Coast Guard, their own investors, a team of underwater rig experts around the world, their own employees and many more. I'm not in a position to rate BPs outreach efforts prior to the spill but I know that some of their outreach methods have been developed while the incident is occurring. That's not the best time to put those systems in place.

Here are some questions for you to ask. Who are my stakeholders? If you sell a physical product at a minimum you'll have employees, suppliers, maybe distributors, the local community (or communities) where your business is located. You might have investors who have a pure financial stake in the business. Too many companies focus on the investors and the government and then ignore almost everyone else. Who are your stakeholders? How will you use the web to communicate with all of these critical groups? Will you create a place for news and discussion now or wait til there's a crisis or big news to share? Will you be able to ramp up fast enough to communicate effectively or will you stumble as you learn the language and find your true voice? Will you punt and throw up a Twitter account and a Facebook page or will you locate the most important information on your own domain? Will you you audio, video and photos to tell your story?

This is all food for thought. Figure out your situation. Start getting smart about the services and technologies that can help to make these connections. Then get started so you're up and running before you really need to be.