Here’s a riddle for you. What do these people have in common? Rudy Giuliani, Charles Lindbergh, Queen Elizabeth II and you.

Yes, you.

Each of you has been honored in Time magazine’s Person of the Year issue. For 2006, Time is recognizing You. The editors go on to call us “citizens of the digital democracy,” and the article says: “It’s about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes.”

It talks about blogs, YouTube, MySpace and Second Life. It talks about the future. And guess what: The future is here. We knew this was coming. Remember the Drudge Report? What was a novelty then is the norm now.

What does all of that mean for you as a marketer? It means that you can no longer dismiss MySpace as just something for teens or YouTube as just being inane and a waste of time. You cannot assume blogging is for geeks and doesn’t affect your organization.

Like it or not, these new media are a part of your world. And the voices and perspectives that these tools give to your consumers are factors you’d better become comfortable weaving into your marketing plans and tactics. The one-way conversation is over.

Does this mean traditional media are no longer valid? Of course not. The emergence of television didn’t eliminate radio. These new channels are not going to make anything go away. But they will change the way we interact with our customers, vendors and community.

Here’s the question: How long can you afford to ignore, avoid or sneer at these new media?

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