The new breed of online social media tools—blogs, podcasts, social networks and the like—will change the public relations world forever. These personal publishing platforms aren't going away, and PR professionals can either get in front of the oncoming train or wait for it to flatten them.

This is the biggest opportunity to hit PR in decades, but there's still plenty of resistance. In my presentations to and engagements with PR groups and companies around the country, I hear the same objections come up repeatedly. Here are the five dumbest reasons I hear for continued inaction:

1. "We don't have the time/people/money." Ah, but you do have the resources to invest in activities that are showing declining returns and decreasing overall effectiveness. This is an excuse for failing to learn about the one area of media that's actually growing. 

Sure, most agencies and corporate PR departments don't have the wherewithal to mount full-press social media campaigns, but the cost of listening to the conversation and learning best practices is trivial. Identify a young staff member (they already get this stuff) and put him or her on a project to monitor and report on online buzz about a client. Share the results with your client and your agency; you'll probably be surprised to learn about the opportunities both are missing. Spend an hour with Technorati, Podcast Alley and Facebook and learn what all the fuss is about. Pick up one of the many books on this topic. The cost of becoming informed is trivial.

2. "The ROI is unclear." Do you mean "return on investment" or "risk of inaction?" Because the consequences of the latter are very clear. There are two factors in the ROI equation, so don't forget the "I." The cost of starting your own blog or creating a special interest group on Flickr is $0. If you don't get much in return, so be it. At the very least, you'll learn something valuable to use next time.

By the way, the ROI is becoming clearer. A survey of 260 senior marketing PR and marcom professionals by the Society for New Communications Research found that two-thirds plan to increase spending on social media during the next 12 months and 81% expect to spend at least as much on social media marketing as on traditional marketing in five years. Someone is figuring this out. 

3. "It's not our job: the task is to up to marketing/product management/customer support." Do you really want them to have all the fun? If you agree with the many thought leaders who say that conversations are the future of marketing, then why would you not want to lead that charge? The most important people in any business are those who own the relationship with customers. PR has traditionally toiled on the sidelines, working the channels that influence markets. You now have a chance to step out front and engage with customers directly. What's the possible downside of that?

4. "We're afraid of negativity." If your products suck and your customers hate you, you probably have good reason. However, most successful businesses have good products and fairly happy customers, so it's unlikely they'll have much of a problem. Research has shown that active bloggers are six times more likely to write positively about brands and products as they are to write negatively. And even if there is negativity building, wouldn't you rather find out now than wait until it turns up in The Wall Street Journal? 

The number of companies that have been victims of social media attacks is actually rather small. In fact, one of the most downtrodden victims of the last two years, Dell Computer, is now one of the biggest advocates of social media marketing. That's because it decided to listen to what people were saying and discovered that it had stumbled upon the greatest focus group in the world. Negativity can lead to constructive change, which is good for business.

5. "It's the Wild West out there: we don't know whom to trust." Customers certainly know whom to trust, and it isn't marketers or the media. Increasingly, they trust each other. The 2006 Edelman Trust Barometer found that 68% of people said they trust peers for product recommendations, and that's triple the percentage of three years earlier. Meanwhile, consumer faith in media is at an all-time low.

You can bet that one reason for people's increasing faith in peer recommendation is that it's now easier than ever to talk to peers. The reality is that the social media world is organizing itself quickly and efficiently. People who mislead and trash talk are weeded out by the community. Those who offer valuable information are rewarded with links and traffic. True, nearly everyone has an agenda, but no one generates much influence by lying. Believe me, it's safe to get involved.

Ready to jump?

Paul Gillin is a writer, social media consultant and author of "The New Influencers: A Marketer's Guide to the New Social Media."