What it is: using mobile devices like cell phones (or web-enabled t-shirts!) to deliver marketing messages. It may be as simple as a very short reminder message, or as sophisticated as a link to a web page containing exercise videos or an interactive food diary.

How to do it: sign up with a provider like MessageBuzz, TextMeForBusiness, or ReacTee. Upload cell phone numbers for your potential or current customers. Enter the desired message and schedule the delivery time and date.

How it's used:Mobile messaging is a great way to reach people on-the-go with time-sensitive info. These examples from a wellness center, a health club's healthy lifestyle program, a pain clinic, and a mixed martial arts studio show how you can use mobile marketing for lifestyle reminders, event invitations, promotions, inspirational messages, exercise routines, and appointment reminders.

Tips: Get permission from each recipient before sending a marketing message.

What it is: A free site where individuals and businesses share videos they've created. The basic idea: catch people's interest with the video, inspire them to interact with ratings, comments, etc., and then direct them to your site to continue the sales and marketing process. Viewers can rate, comment on, and recommend videos. Videos which get the most views, or the most comments, get top billing on the site's home page. Viewers can also sign up for notifications when a particular poster shares a new video.

How to do it: We suggest YouTube because it's by far the most popular video-sharing site. Use a camcorder, digital camera or your cell phone to create a digital movie. Edit the video if you wish. Then upload it to YouTube.

How it's used: Great for encouraging word-of-mouth marketing and staying top of mind with potential customers. The only limit is your imagination. Here's an example of a silly yet amazing treadmill video. These CrossFit workout videos really give the flavor of this intense physical challenge (and viewers can easily get to the poster's website by clicking on the name of the poster). And this more traditional SparkPeople desk workout video illustrates another approach.

Tips: Make sure your customers are actually interested in watching videos on the Internet. If you have a knack for filming and editing, professional production is definitely not a requirement. Create a clear connection between your business purpose, your videos and your website. Remember that your video represents your business, so wild-and-crazy is only appropriate if appeals to likely customers!

What it is: MySpace is a social networking website. Social networking sites are simply a collection of web-based tools that make it easier to interact online with people you know, or people who share your interests. For example, social networking sites usually include chat, video, instant messaging, photo sharing, personal blogs, and discussion forums.

Other examples include Classmates.com (for people who attended the same schools) and LinkedIn (which connects business and professional colleagues).

How to do it: Lots of social networking sites exist. We recommend MySpace because it's by far the most widely-used. Sign up for your free MySpace membership. Then, start adding your contacts and content about your business.

Tips: MySpace is primarily the domain of twenty-somethings. While folks in their thirties and forties are increasingly joining, it's not at all clear that they're active users. So make sure this approach makes sense for your customer base. Remember that social networking sites are online communities - and not everyone in the community is nice. Many MySpace pages are jumbled messes of content. Keep your look and feel reasonably streamlined. These sites can also be time-consuming as you add contacts, flesh out your profile, and add new content. Make sure you're seeing business results that justify the time investment.

How it's used: If you target younger clients, MySpace could work well for solo practitioners where it essentially takes the place of a business website. Examples include wellness coaches, life coaches, personal trainers, and nutritionists.

What it is: Audio recordings distributed via the web using special technology called "syndication software." This software keeps track of your subscribers - people who have asked to receive your podcasts. It also automatically downloads any new content you post to their computers and mobile devices like cell phones or mp3 players. Then they use software like iTunes to listen to the podcast.

How to do it: The free Gcast podcasting service makes it easy to try creating your own podcasts. Depending on your business objective, you may also want to list your podcasts at directory sites like Podcast Alley which make it easier for new listeners to stumble across your podcast.

How it's used: A good choice for nurturing relationships with potential clients or delivering paid services to current customers. Again, your imagination is the only limit. Podcast length can range from a couple of minutes to 30 minutes or even longer. Examples include hosting your own weekly "Internet radio" show with local wellness experts, providing a wellness tip of the day to your listeners, or sharing a weekly client success story with tips for listeners.

Tips: Plan what you're going to say. Keep it short and sweet - this is no time to ramble aimlessly.

What it is: A blog (short for "web log") is a website where you - the "blogger" - share an running log of your thoughts, ideas or insights online. It's like an online journal or diary - with the addition of user comments, which enable an ongoing conversation about topics of interest.

How to do it: You can literally create your blog right now with the free WordPress blogging service. Then share the link with your customers, put it on your website, and you're in business. Depending on the business purpose of your blog, you may want to submit it to blog directories like BlogCatalog.com.

How it's used: Blogs excel at inviting people into conversation. Our recent post about Gold Gym's strategy on Radial's "Rethinking The Business Of Wellness" blog  prompted an active discussion among several readers.

The RossTraining blog gets a small but continuous flow of reader comments by combining a strong point of view (see the Merck post, for example) with interesting info for committed weight-lifters. Notice that some posts embed YouTube videos and photos.

And DiabetesMine is a highly personal yet information-packed blog written by a woman with recently-diagnosed diabetes. Note that she accepts paid advertising on her blog, making it a revenue source.

Tips: Two types of blogs work best: those that are extremely informative, and those that take a strong point of view that inspires conversation. Either type encourages readers to participate in the online conversation by posting comments. Frequent posts keep readers checking back to see what's new. If you don't think you'll post frequently, notify your readers by email when you make a new post.

Take a look at the Ridgeline Fitness website, which already incorporates podcasts and videos.

They could easily provide their "Recipe of the Week" in a blog. That would help keep them top of mind with readers and encourage their participation in the online conversation by encouraging them to offer their own recipe suggestions and modifications.

And they could grow into using mobile messaging notices to alert subscribers to new DVDs and to send appointment reminders to local clients.