For the past couple of weeks, we’ve been talking about how the trends of consumers demanding real conversation and blogging are changing the marketing landscape. We’ll wrap up this conversation by answering a reasonable question: If my organization chooses not to blog, are there other ways we can jump on this trend?

Yes. All conversations are two-way. If you’re not going to talk, there’s still incredible value in listening. One of the biggest takeaways from this series should be that it’s not just the companies initiating the conversations anymore. Your current and potential customers are out there talking about you. Listen.

Companies pay thousands of dollars for a clip service. Here’s how to create one for yourself for free. I’m going to use Google as the example, but you could do this with most search engines.

Go to www.google.com. In the search window, type in your company name and, if you need to, a geographic location. That’s search one.

Then, back at Google’s main page, click the “more” button above the search window. You’ll need to click the “even more” button from there to get Google’s full range of search options. You’ll see a blog search option. Click on it and do the same search.

You will probably be surprised by what you see. Don’t limit your search to just your company name. Try your industry or other key words that someone would use to talk about your company.

The way to automate this (and check it painlessly and easily on a daily basis) is to use an RSS feed reader. Check out www.whatisRSS.com for details. The Web site www.converstations.com also makes sense of it all.

Bottom line: If you are not ready to talk, at least be smart enough to listen.

Drew McLellan is Top Dog at McLellan Marketing Group and the author of “99.3 Random Acts of Marketing.” He can be reached at Drew@MclellanMarketing.com.

© Drew McLellan