What’s the best advice for small publishers getting started, today? “Keep you cost structure to an absolute minimum,” said Ari Brandt, CEO of ad technology company Linkstorm. You can do a lot with a little, assured Mike Foley, Product Manager, The New York Times. “There are a lot of simple solutions.” Don’t try to be something you’re not -- particularly if that thing is a technology company -- insisted John Vincent, CEO, EyeWonder. “Don’t focus on what your core (ability) is not.” “Never start with technology,” and figure out what’s your ultimate goal, said Harrison Magun, …

What are some basic steps publishers take to go social? Lazerow says the first thing is get your social profiles in order--mainly that means your Facebook page and Twitter account. You should be doing at least 10 Tweets a day, responding to user questions or input and using this interaction to build up your audience. He also pointed out that your social profiles will also come increasingly in searches, especially with Facebook now allowing brands to get easy to remember URLs for Facebook Pages.

In the penultimate panel of the day, we're looking at how publishers can socialize their content. In one example, Mike Lazerow of social app developer Buddy Media discussed how the company created a social golf app for Sports Illustrated Golf Group's Golf.com site that cut across platforms including Facebook and Facebook Connect as well as the iPhone. The app allowed users to connect with golf buddies, compare scores, find courses, and get the lastest news from Golf Magazine, golf.com and SI Golf Plus. With Facebook Connect, the app could also be extended to other sites that are part of …

What’s the one strategy that best guarantees near-term ROI? Focus and common sense, Dominic Venuto, SVP, Head of Media and Entertainment Practice, Razorfish, said somewhat generally. “In such a dynamic industry, it’s easy to get distracted with the next new shiny object,” he said, adding, “(ROI magic) is probably sitting right in from of your eyes.” “I will not answer that,” said Cella Irvine, President and CEO, The About Group “It takes multiple layers of data, coupled with insights” to figure that out. Do every company / publisher have to be a technology company to survive, …

That’s the focus of the first afternoon panel at OMMA Publish. The answer? “It’s depends,” according to Benjamin Chen, Chairman & CEO, content syndication platform Mochila, Inc. “We focus on audience … Matching content with the audience is the key.” / In that vein, Mochila recently partnered with Investor’s Business Daily to distribute articles, photos and video from IBD’s Investors.com site. The multimedia content geared to personal and professional investors spans a range of topics from stock trading and technology news to investor psychology. IBD’s sales force is selling ad space, video ads, and custom sponsorships for the …