David Armano is on the front lines of what he sees as the "third revolution." The first, the executive vice president of global Innovation and integration at Edelman Digital said, was broadcast; the second: broadband. We're now engaged in the third revolution, which is social, whereby the main distinction is computers being replaced by people.

Armano told a small invited audience during an intimate "unplugged" setting at the 2011 World Business Forum, where ExecuNet exclusively reported, that February 12, 2006 was a pivotal day for him. He published a blog and began connecting.

"I plugged into conversations and became an active participant. In less than a year, I was in BusinessWeek twice even though I had never publicly written before," said Armano.

The web democratizes content and, as an example, Armano told of a white paper he wrote on behalf of his former company that they didn't find worthy of publishing. Armano independently posted it on the web and found it was well-received.

"All business is now personal," said Armano, concluding that the relationship readers had with him contributed to the positive response they had to his white paper.

Armano also gave the example of how influence spreads in how he was able to leverage his network to raise $12,000 in 24 hours for a family with special needs. Networks of people trusted him enough to advocate on his behalf and contribute money to strangers.

To rise above all the "noise" that's online now, Armano recommended we build our own filters, like Google Circles or using infographics to visually communicate information and capture attention.

Bringing your brand online — whether it's personal, product or corporate — always requires a strategy, as there is a distinction between "digital" and "social." Digital is another channel while social requires care and interaction.

"Don't start a Facebook page if you are not ready for criticism or feedback," said Armano.

Robyn Greenspan
Robyn Greenspan is the Editor-in-Chief at ExecuNet, where she is responsible for setting and driving the editorial content engagement strategy across the private business network's publications and expert-led programming. She is also a Huffington Post blogger. You can follow her on Twitter @RobynGreenspan

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